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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25377124">Casual Vacancy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reveri/pseuds/Reveri'>Reveri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Bad Flirting, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, I accept worship payments in kudos and comments, Imagine Bella Swan as a broke grad student, Just add a dash of angst, Lemons and Limes, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Poetry, Polyamory, Romance, Roommates, and philosophy, and that's how the story goes, and the Volturi kings as rich insufferable housemates, and they were ROOMMATES, you are very welcome</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:40:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,386</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25377124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reveri/pseuds/Reveri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Volturi Boarding House had a vacancy. Bella thought Aro and his partners were a bit odd, but it was such a nice place and she didn't even have to pay upfront. What else could she possibly ask for? "What do you do for a living, Miss Swan?" "Hmm? Oh, I'm a singer." Volturi Kings/Bella.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aro/Bella Swan, Aro/Caius/Marcus (Twilight), Aro/Caius/Marcus/Bella Swan, Caius/Bella Swan, Marcus/Bella Swan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Twilight All Human, Volturi Kings and Isabella Swan</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A story told in parts, which I wrote after being heavily inspired by Colubrina's Hermione/Tom/Abraxas HP AU entitled Housemates. Please read the magnificence that is all of her works. This is dedicated to her.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <em>Part One</em> </span>
</p><p>Hadn't Alice said this place was in her budget?</p><p>Bella balked at the exterior of the brick-walled townhouse, shifting her weight from one leg to another as she contemplated cancelling the appointment altogether. She thought she had made it perfectly clear that her monthly salary was <em>nowhere</em> near Alice's and the girl even assured her it was a sure deal. Evidently, Alice had no idea what a broke grad student's wallet was like, and that possibly meant she'd have to pretend to look around the place all the while knowing she couldn't afford it—all before breakfast, too.</p><p>She sighed. She really should've known when her friend sent the address and told her to dress nice.</p><p>The Volturi Boarding House was situated in the, er, wealthier side of Volterra. She had surmised that that was a good thing since it meant the neighborhood was generally safer and she wouldn't have to carry her pepper spray all the time, but honestly, Bella just wanted to get away as far as possible from the twenty-two square meter hellhole of a unit she was currently sharing with her cousin Jessica. Now <em>that</em> was a disaster for another story. Anyway, the referred apartment in front of her was a measly twenty-minute walking distance from the campus <em>and</em> a bus ride away from the lounge she worked at part-time. But with its cool industrial exterior, fancy black iron porch railings, and silver-coated windows, the place was so undeniably, unquestionably out of her league that she felt impoverished just by standing next to it.</p><p>"You must be Miss Swan." A man's deep voice called out to her from the entrance and she shook out of her reverie. "You're right on time. Come on in."</p><p>Sending over a weak smile as she moved up the stairs, Bella greeted back and shook the hand that was offered to her. The man holding the door open for her introduced himself as Aro Volturi. The man was attractive, possibly in his mid- to late twenties, kept his black hair longer than most men she knew, and as early as now, Bella knew that Aro—with his leather shoes and corporate slacks and expensive button-up shirt—either owned the entire apartment complex <em>or</em> the entire apartment complex <em>and</em> the shiny Bentleys parked outside.</p><p>She <em>really</em> wanted to punch Alice in the face right now.</p><p>Bella stepped into the townhouse anyway and the tall, ornate doors locked automatically behind her with a beep. Aro led her through the mahogany-floored entryway and told her, "There are three floors to this building. The first and second stories are fully occupied at the moment, but the top-floor loft has one vacant room."</p><p>And it was beautiful.</p><p>The interior of the house was a tasteful, warm-toned vintage. It was old-fashioned and had brick walls. It even had a common room with a hearth and a <em>fireplace</em>, and there was even an <em>actual working elevator</em>, but who would insist on it when polished hardwood stairs warped wonderfully at each level of the building? This entire house was lifted from whatever magazine was Vogue but for loft interior design.</p><p>Bella wanted to drop down on her knees and beg to be a governess instead. She could pull it off. She'd read <em>Jane Eyre</em> and <em>Pride &amp; Prejudice</em> for her British lit class in undergrad.</p><p>They made it to the topmost floor without her groveling, but when she was greeted by the sight of off-white sofas and brown chairs and emerald green divans on well-placed oriental rugs and <em>a wooden fucking antique Italian baby grand piano</em> next to the high windows that overlooked the neighborhood, she froze on the spot and turned to Aro with what she felt to be glistening eyes.</p><p>"I take it you like the apartment," he said with a knowing smirk.</p><p>Oh yes, she definitely <em>like</em>.</p><p>"Yes, but," she said, struggling to hide her chagrin. "I don't think Alice understood what I meant when I said 'grad-student friendly.' This isn't exactly…" she trailed off.</p><p>Aro's brows furrowed, tilting his head very slightly before he said, "Ah, you meant the bedroom. You needn't be so concerned; you'll have your own study table and the walls are thick enough—"</p><p>Bella cringed as Aro missed the point and led her to the last mahogany door at the end of the hall. Peering inside, she almost sighed at the homely bedroom awaiting her. It was smaller than the rest of the rooms, but with beige walls, a single bed, a proper desk, a closet, and some shelves, what else could a grad student like her need indeed?</p><p>Aro cleared his throat before gesturing her to the white-painted door opposite the room, which turned out to be the bathroom. Bella's eyes almost rolled back into her head when she noted the presence of a tub and a shower heater. The full-length mirror was just a bonus. Aro supplied, "However, the top-floor tenants share a common bath. Water heating is no problem. Although I do suggest purchasing a personal shelf for your toiletries."</p><p>She'd had enough.</p><p>Bella stepped back and met Aro's eyes straight on. "Aro," she said.</p><p>He smiled at her. "Yes?"</p><p>"I can't possibly afford this place."</p><p>"Well of course not," Aro said with a laugh. "You're only here for one room, aren't you?"</p><p>Now she wanted to strangle him too. "No, I meant <em>I can't afford this place. </em>I'm a grad student. This is, like, my dream house for when I've won the million-dollar draw, or <em>maybe</em> if I bagged a senile billionaire as a dessert father. Maybe." Aro laughed and she felt small. "I'm really sorry for wasting your morning."</p><p>"I don't doubt it," he said. "But I'm perfectly aware of your predicament. Alice is such a dear, she's like a niece to me, and being her 'best friend in the whole world,' it would be rude of me not to offer you a place to stay."</p><p><em>Alice!</em> Redness flooded to her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I don't know what she told you but I really can't—"</p><p>The man waved his hand dismissively. "You don't need to think about down payments and drastic monthly dues. As I said, I've been told of your, ah, financial predicament."</p><p>Bella cringed. "I'll give you the most I can from my monthly salary, and I'll even do all the housework—"</p><p>Aro tutted at her, leaving her trailing after him as he walked back to the sofas. He took a seat and gestured for her to do the same. With a sigh, she plopped down opposite to him and waited as he considered her with a calculating look.</p><p>"You haven't asked, you see," Aro said. "Why there's a vacant room in the first place."</p><p>Huh. He was right. It wasn't like Volterra was lacking people with funds or businessmen who wanted to throw money around. This place was the Silicon Valley of Finance. Hmm. Did that mean this neighborhood was basically Wall Street? Was Wall Street the actual street's name, or was that what they called the building filled with people who had suitcases and a lot of money? Hell if she knew. She didn't make it ten minutes into <em>that</em> Di Caprio film.</p><p>"Okay. Why is there a vacant room in the first place?" she asked dutifully.</p><p>"Because the top-floor tenants are a bit… difficult," the man replied. "You'll have to live with three of the most insufferable people, even more insufferable than the rest of the occupants of the building, and you'll have to live through endless moods and bickering, and the occasional housework, but truly I just need another person on this floor to prevent them from killing each other."</p><p>"Ah," she smiled serenely at him. "I see." Everything came with a price, and this one cost more than money. "That explains it."</p><p>"Yes," Aro chuckled to himself. "The previous occupant was Alice's adoptive father, you see."</p><p>"Oh!" Bella's eyes widened. She knew him—he was a great guy. That was a recent development in Alice's life. "Carlisle lived here?"</p><p>"Yes, Carlisle," Aro huffed. "But he met Alice's mother recently, as you know, and moved out to a bigger place for their new family."</p><p>Did she just hear bitterness in his tone? Shaking the thought away, Bella inquired, "Who's the other three then?"</p><p>"Marcus, who is about your age and is taking his masteral in philosophy at the same university as you and Alice; Caius, who co-owns this building with me and badly needs social intervention; and, well, myself." Aro sent her a saintly smile. "They are my partners-in-life. Will that be a problem?"</p><p>"Excuse me?" Bella almost choked. She cleared her throat and shook her head. "No, no. I guess not. But, um, didn't you say the tenants were… insufferable…?"</p><p>"Yes. Insufferable, and with terrible, terrible moods, endless bickering, and have to be kept from killing each other." Aro listed matter-of-factly, as if he were enumerating the days of the week to a child. "Keep up, dear."</p><p>"Well…" Bella paused, thinking of her current bedspread and Jess and that shithole of a shower. She thought of spending one more day coming home to a sock on the doorknob and horrible, horrible noises. With hardened resolve, she peered through her eyelashes and gave her best smile. "When can I move in?"</p><p>The glint in Aro's gaze almost made her shiver.</p><p>"At your earliest convenience, Miss Swan."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi! If you're interested, I also have an A/M/C/OC fic called "Alethiology in Volterra." Please give it a read when you have time.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <em>Part Two</em> </span>
</p><p>The following day, Aro introduced the new tenant to his partners in the living room. Bella's things were in two duffel bags on the floor next to her feet and she had a potted cactus in one hand.</p><p>To say they were delighted to meet her was utter bullcrap. Bella was ashamed to think she once considered herself aloof. Or maybe she was, and her new housemates were just on a completely other level of unsociable.</p><p>The brown-haired one, Marcus, took one passing look at her and, well, never again. As far as Bella was concerned, Marcus was a ghost, an apparition of a man, always brooding and haunting the air of the apartment wherever he could be found. Always lost in the pages of a book.</p><p>The other one—Caius, with silver-blond hair and sharp eyes—was different. He'd <em>snarled</em> at her. Snarled!</p><p>Who even did that anymore?</p><p>"Perhaps I should have informed them I was renting out the room." Aro muttered, staring thoughtfully at the empty spot his partners had angrily marched off from.</p><p>"You think?" Bella asked dryly.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>A week later, Alice and Bella walked side by side from the graduate school building to the campus courtyard. Since Bella had moved into the boarding house, Alice had been bubbling with questions about her new housemates.</p><p>"So? Aren't you glad I told you about the place? I didn't exactly know your <em>type</em>—" Her grin was mischievous. "—but I'm guessing you like?"</p><p>Bella rolled her eyes but laughed when Alice started wiggling her brows.</p><p>"It's not as bad as Aro made it out to be," she started to say. "He and Marcus are okay. Mostly. Aro's just <em>real picky</em> with food. Marcus doesn't talk much… at all. Caius is the one that's really just," she tried to think of a word that described the eternally-scowling man. "Bad," she finished lamely.</p><p>"Try terrible. He doesn't like me either." Alice giggled. "Dunno how Carlisle put up with him."</p><p>Bella <em>mm-hmm</em>ed. "Let me tell you how it went when they found out I was a majoring Philo."</p><hr/><p>The four of them were having dinner that night.</p><p>"What do you do for a living, Miss Swan?" Aro had asked as she washed her dishes.</p><p>"Hmm? Oh, I'm a singer," she said off-handedly, not missing the scoffing sound that no doubt came from Caius. "I mean, I'm not good enough to be a regular. But I sing and host for lavish couples' nights and all that. If I need more funds, I tutor some students at uni."</p><p>"Really," Aro's tone was curious. "I imagine that would pay enough."</p><p>"With tuition fees increasing each year, and funding my own thesis, then having to send a bit of money back home…" She sighed as she put her plates away. "Don't even get me started on the budget cuts after the new dean was appointed. We used to have a dedicated library area where we could read in peace, but now we can't even use the air conditioning <em>and</em> we have to outbid the Finance majors if we want to use any of the study halls. So now I have to pay for that, too."</p><p>Bella paused. That was actually how she'd met Alice — the five-foot-two pixie-haired Finance student was more ruthless than she looked, and it took her completely off-guard when their program demanded use of Bella's beloved — and hers no longer — study room.</p><p>"Ah," Marcus intoned, surprising her that he was even talking. "You're from <em>that</em> department."</p><p>"Oh yes. You'd know wouldn't you." Bella narrowed her eyes at him. "You sit right next to me in class. Not that you've ever noticed, by the way."</p><p>Aro looked positively scandalized. "Marcus! You didn't tell me."</p><p>"About sharing classes with the new tenant?" he snorted. Bella found she really, really liked the way Marcus sounded. "I hardly knew. And it sounds like dreadful news to me."</p><p>"No," Aro pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "About the department."</p><p>"What would I have said," Marcus drawled, picking up a book (a required reading for one of their classes) stowed next to his empty plate and left the dining area before promptly disappearing into their bedroom. Aro followed right after him, and arguing voices carried through the walls.</p><p>She sighed. Bickering. Again.</p><p>"Condolences," Caius' baritone voice drifted from the couch. "on the rest of your inevitably impoverished life."</p><p>"Well," Bella laughed under her breath. "I certainly haven't heard it phrased like that before."</p><p>"Clearly you do not belong to the correct crowd."</p><p>For a moment, she considered whether he meant she was poor or dumb. Either way, he was a jerk. "You realize," she deadpanned. "that Marcus is studying the same major as me, right?"</p><p>"So? You won't have the same prospects in two years. Marcus is at the top of his class and can afford to pay his own rent," Caius smirked at her. "Let's not forget connections. How many of <em>your</em> lovers are millionaires?"</p><p>Bella smiled bitterly at him and retreated to her room.</p><hr/><p>"That's absolutely—" Alice was wheezing with laughter by the time they reached the gates. "—horrible!"</p><p>"And yet here you laugh."</p><p>"I mean, it's still loads better than sleeping in the same space as Jessica Stanley," her companion threw a pointed glance and she nodded resolutely in response. "Remember The Mike Newton Incident? They <em>had</em> to have burnt the carpets after that. If not, I'm calling pest control."</p><p>"<em>For the love of god</em>, Alice, don't remind me."</p><p>"And maybe you can learn a thing or two from them," Alice winked. "Aro's plenty open-minded and approachable. Ask him for advice. I'm sure he has the, ah, <em>experience</em>."</p><p>Bella pretended to vomit before she went on her merry way.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Work was okay, and Bella had enough time to drop by the library to borrow a selection of Nietzsche's works. Although, she did forget to bring her bookbag, so she had to carry the thick volumes to her chest the entire trip home. When she got to the boarding house, she struggled with her keys and nearly dropped her things until arms shot out from nowhere and held the doors open for her.</p><p>"I'll hold the elevator, too," the stranger said.</p><p>"Thanks," she said appreciatively. Blowing her fringes away from her eyes to get a proper look at the person who had helped her, "Don't know how I would have managed without you, Mr…?"</p><p>"Psh. No need to be so formal. I'm Demetri. I live on the second floor with Heidi. That's Heidi." The man pointed to her left and Bella startled to find a blonde next to her. The blonde didn't look as kind as Demetri (she looked at Bella like a lint on the plush cashmere she wore) but Bella offered a smile just the same. "It's weird that I'm seeing you just now, though. I think Aro mentioned a new tenant weeks ago."</p><p>They stepped into the elevator. "I leave early and get back late. Working grad student," she explained to him. "My name's Bella."</p><p>"Yeah, we figured." The Philo major could literally feel Heidi's eyes assessing her net worth. "How are you liking it here so far?"</p><p>"Well," she thought about it for a second. "The apartment's lovely."</p><p>That had them snickering. "Yeah. It really is." Demetri waved a hand when they stepped out to the second floor. "Nice meeting you, Bella."</p><p>"Yeah, see you. Thanks again."</p><p>With great difficulty, she made it to her apartment door and managed to use her keycard without dropping anything. Her arms felt like spaghetti afterward (and by the time she placed the books down onto the apartment floor, she'd literally been carrying around the weight of Nietzsche's words through the night).</p><p>As she caught her breath next to the door, heaving sounds seeped into her senses. Brows furrowed, she peered down the hallway and found light at the end of the hall. The bathroom's door was open, and she rose from her place to follow the mumbling voice and heaving sounds. What greeted her was no pretty sight.</p><p>Bella recognized a panic attack when she saw one. Marcus was sitting on the bathroom floor, leaning most of his weight against the tub as he dryheaved. He wasn't entirely nude—there was a towel wrapped around his lower half—but the way his hands were clutched on the porcelain tub, frozen, and his wavy hair clung to the sides of his face in sweaty disarray as he racked violent breaths…</p><p>"Marcus," she called to him softly, slowly walking into the bath so as not to alarm him. She rummaged through her brain to find the article she'd read once about situations like these. Crouched on the cold tiles next to him, she coached Marcus through proper breathing exercises, making sure he held her gaze as he copied her deep breaths, held it for some seconds, and out again. And again and again, until he was no longer hyperventilating.</p><p>She asked him quietly when he struggled a little less, "Do you want me to call Aro?"</p><p>"Out," Marcus took another shuddering breath. "Board meeting."</p><p>"At so late in the night?" Bella shook her head and offered, "I'll call Caius then. Can you wait here?"</p><p>"Not. Here—" Marcus clenched his jaw and exhaled deeply through his nose. "Work."</p><p>"Oh," she replied, feeling dumb. That explained the lack of parked Bentleys outside. "What can I do?"</p><p>Marcus shrugged and focused on his breathing. Bella kept coaching him through it.</p><p>Bella decided to distract him. She could do that. "I'll tell you a story then. Umm… how about how I managed to get these scars on my left knee?"</p><p>She sat fully on the floor beside him now, not really minding the wetness seeping into her skirt as she bent a leg to show him her pitiful knee. She smiled when his attention shifted to peer at it. "Do you want to hear it?"</p><p>Marcus shrugged again.</p><p>"Okay, so, I was never blessed with limb-eye coordination," she began with a nervous laugh as she traced the thickened white bands on the skin of her joint. "And every year of high school my dad would come to school to warn my P.E. teacher about it. But come senior year, there was this substitute that didn't believe me."</p><p>His eyes were locked on her scars. "And?"</p><p>"She told me to put my book down, get down from the bleachers, and play volleyball."</p><p>"Volleyball." Marcus said flatly. "Those scars are too thick to be from volleyball."</p><p>"I'm not done yet," she told him. "So I play volleyball, right, because I don't want to fail the class. I'm trying hard not to get in the way. I was managing <em>fine</em> until the varsity team walked in." A little curve teased at the edge of his lip. "When they started playing on the court right next to ours, I automatically went from sidestepping just one ball, to <em>a lot</em> of stray varsity-level balls <em>and</em> my teammates. The types that go <em>splat</em> when they hit the floor." She made a show of slapping her hands together sideways. "<em>Splat!</em> Like that."</p><p>Marcus' mouth was twitching. "Mm-hmm."</p><p>"Inevitably, one of the girls bump into me, and of course the next second all of us are falling like dominoes. I'm pushing myself up by the bleacher railings, feeling lucky to get away with just a scrape. That's when one of those <em>splat</em>-type serves hit the back of left leg." She sighed woefully. "I fell. My knee hit the bleachers."</p><p>Marcus shuddered. "Ouch."</p><p>"Ouch indeed." Bella nodded. "Now you know why I'm stuck with books."</p><p>Bella figured that Marcus was breathing normally again and his gaze wasn't as distraught anymore. He looked calm. She peered at him and asked carefully, "Are you okay now?"</p><p>She followed his gaze when he smirked and reached out a hand to point at her right knee instead. "But this one looks different."</p><p>"Oh, <em>that.</em>" She bent her opposite leg, showing him her right knee with the callous of a curve-shaped scar on it. "That one's from prom night…"</p><p>"Prom night," he repeated disbelievingly, tracing the thick scar with the tip of his nail. "How could prom possibly give you that?"</p><p>"Well that's—" Bella started to say when she heard the apartment door open. She pushed herself off from the tiled flooring and called out, "Aro? Is that you?"</p><p>"Next time," Marcus said, grabbing her wrist before she went. "Next time you'll tell me."</p><p>She grinned at him, "I'll think about it."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>The day after was a Saturday, and Bella was up at six-thirty because of a strong, brewed scent wafting from the dining area.</p><p>She found Caius at the kitchen counter making his coffee. The good kind. The kind he kept in the glossy, airtight metal canister. The kind she definitely couldn't afford.</p><p>"If you could keep your wretched things in your own space," Caius glared at her when she started to make pancakes next to him. "That would be great."</p><p>"Huh?" He stared her before gesturing to the heap of thick books scattered on the floor next to the entryway. "Ah. Sorry. Forgot."</p><p>Marcus walked into the dining area. Sans shirt. "It's too early for this shit. Give me coffee."</p><p>"You're not allowed to drink coffee," Caius reminded him with a glare.</p><p>Marcus sighed before turning to Bella. "Give me pancakes."</p><p>"Um. Sure," she added one more cup of flour to the batter and whisked.</p><p>A beat of quiet. "Have you finished the assigned readings yet?"</p><p>Was Marcus <em>speaking</em> to her? At six in the morning? Bella made a face. "No, I just borrowed them from the library last night. Didn't get to read any of it yet."</p><p>"Just borrow mine next time," he said casually. "When you're done tell me what you think."</p><p>Bella froze, and she was sure Caius nearly dropped his delicious-smelling, dark, brewed, expensive coffee. She was comforted to know that this scene was, indeed peculiar, and she hadn't been the only one possibly transported to an alternate dimension.</p><p>Marcus was making <em>conversation.</em> This guy hadn't even said a word to her in the two years she sat next to him in class.</p><p>Marcus looked up from the table when he noticed that both of them were gaping at him. "What?"</p><p>With a scowl, Caius narrowed his eyes at her. "What did you do?"</p><p>She schooled her expression before turning back to the stove. "Pancakes."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>She's putting on her work heels when Aro meets her at the doorway. "You have work?"</p><p>"Yup. Saturday is couples' night out. Big tipsies."</p><p>"I see. I wanted to thank you for taking care of Marcus last night," he told her. "And the housework. And the cooking. Everything, really."</p><p>"What else are roommates for?" Bella beamed at him before mellowing her tone. "Maybe you could keep some of his meds at the coffee table. For easy access."</p><p>"Oh. Yes, I'll do that."</p><p>"Mm. Kay then." She slung her workbag over a shoulder and turned to the door, only to stop when Aro cleared his throat.</p><p>"He doesn't have them often," Aro said, and she faced him again. "Only when we're gone for too long."</p><p>"You don't have to tell me."</p><p>Aro shook his head. "He had someone before us, but she's gone now. He doesn't trust easily. He dissociates. It's bad when his thoughts get the better of him and he doesn't have a book to anchor him down."</p><p>"Okay," she responded slowly. "Well, he has you and Caius."</p><p>"And you." Aro had a strange look in his eyes when he stared at her. She nodded once. And her too. "I don't know what happened between you two last night, but Marcus seems… comfortable. So I'd like it if you stayed. Whatever you saw last night, don't hold it against him. He's… important."</p><p><em>To me</em> was left unsaid.</p><p>"Aro, the only time you'll manage to kick me out is when I'm off to get married." Bella pulled the door open and snickered. "That'll be <em>years</em> and <em>years</em> from now. See ya."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Work is horrible and life is horrible and waitresses need to be paid more.</p><p>Why did she have to fill in for Emily that day?</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>She'd been at the apartment for exactly thirty days when Caius finally succeeded in pissing her off. He was so naturally unpleasant, and despite being attractive (seriously, <em>what</em> was going on in the boarding house water system? All the tenants looked like models), many of his remarks were really truly unacceptable for public speech. No matter how well he coated them in euphemistic eloquence.</p><p>She shuddered to think of what field the man worked in.</p><p>Usually, she settled for letting his words pass through one ear and out the other. And by now, she was completely used his jibes at her program. You know, being a philosophy major<em>.</em></p><p>And then he caught her completely off-guard one night when she had just gotten off a phone call with her father.</p><p>"Yeah, dad… Don't worry about it." She was drying her hair in bathroom with the door open. "I can cut a few bus rides this week. And there's always some kids who need help with math. How much will you need?" She turned off the hairdryer and hooked it back on the shelf. Switching her phone off loudspeaker and holding it to her ear, "Alright. I'll wire it to you Monday. Love you dad."</p><p>She hadn't noticed Caius leaning outside the doorframe until he spoke.</p><p>"I feel sorry for you."</p><p>She rolled her eyes and headed for her room, intent on going to bed. "Good night, Caius."</p><p>"Does your father know you're close to whoring yourself just so he can spend your money on god knows what?"</p><p>She turned on her heel sharply. "<em>What </em>did you just say?<em>"</em></p><p>Her unusually shrill tone had Aro and Marcus poking their heads out of their quarters.</p><p>"Your manager dropped by when you were in there," Caius continued haughtily. "Said to tell you that they're <em>very, truly sorry</em> about the creep that groped you at work earlier this week and he's rightfully where he belongs. Whatever that means." He shrugged. "And that you should answer her calls," he added. "So. Unless you have the funds to quit hosting at that bar, which you don't, I assume you understand why I used the word," he paused. "whoring."</p><p>She stepped back and said the only thing she could to the complete assholery he'd achieved with dry amazement. "Wow."</p><p>"Caius," Aro began in a warning tone as he approached them in the hallway.</p><p>"No," she pointed an index finger at Aro to stop him from taking one more step. "I'm giving him a reaction this time."</p><p>Caius raised a sculpted brow at her.</p><p>"You can go ahead and mock my wallet, and my program, and the fact that I can't afford your dumb, imported, a-cat-shit-this-out coffee," she laughed hollowly. "But if you're doing this to drive me out, you're going to have to do <em>way</em> better than, ah, what's the word again, <em>whoring</em>, and you're going to have to drag me out of this place kicking and screaming by the skin of your teeth."</p><p>She held a hand up when Marcus tried to intervene.</p><p>"And you don't have to feel sorry for me at all. Because I <em>can</em> tolerate being groped at work, and not taking the bus so I can send more money home for my mom's cancer treatment, <em>and then</em> come home to deal with an asshole like you. Child's play, really."</p><p>Bella let the air hang between them for a minute. When he opened his mouth, possibly to act contrite, she patted his shoulder twice and said, "Good talk. Tomorrow's breakfast is corned beef. The kind that you said that was disgusting. The cheap kind." Right before going into her room and slamming the door shut behind her.</p><p>"<em>You're such a fucking asshole</em>," she heard Marcus say.</p><p>Bella went to bed. Thinking of the ways she could mess with the coffee-obsessed sociopath, Bella had never slept so blissfully her whole life.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>"I'm not asking for much," Aro huffed. "Just that you don't make it harder than it already is. And what exactly about her do you disapprove of?"</p><p>Caius ignored him.</p><p>"Surely it's not her looks."</p><p>"It's not her intellect, is it?" Marcus yawned from his place on the bed as he turned another page. "I feel obligated to point out she is working two jobs and is second to me in class."</p><p>Aro chuckled, pulling the comforter over them. "I didn't know we were looking for a fourth?"</p><p>"Nobody is looking for nothing," Caius snapped and switched the lights off.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>The next two months were decidedly easier. Bella pretended Caius didn't exist and Caius pretended he wasn't an asshole. Bella went to her classes, worked odd shifts, tutored undergrads, and even let Alice pull her into spontaneous shopping trips. The main difference now was that she had a kitchen to cook meals for four and a bathtub to soak in on Sunday nights.</p><p>But then for some unfathomable reason, Bella's life started going in a direction she never predicted it to.</p><p>It started when one of the senior professors called her over to the faculty room. Expecting a full reprimand because of her most recent submission to the department journal — "<em>why Nietzsche is undeserving of the feminist narrative" </em>— she gaped dumbly at him when she was offered a TA position instead.</p><p><em>Overseeing undergrad exams, grading term papers</em>, Amun told her. <em>Encoding grades</em>.<em> Basic stuff.</em></p><p>She had to ask. "Will I get paid?"</p><p>Amun squinted at her. Silence hung between them for a few seconds before a nearly toothless grin broke out on the old man's face. With crinkly eyes and a teasing demeanor reserved only for his best students, Amun grumbled, "State your price, she-demon."</p><p>She resigned from hosting that very night. Sometimes, though, Bella still took singing gigs at fancy restaurants and weddings. An extra $600 in her pocket never hurt.</p><p>And then two weeks after that incident, Bella had just gotten through the foyer of the boarding house when Charlie called, saying a foundation reached out to him and offered a fund to cover Renee's chemotherapy, along with five other recipients in Forks.</p><p>She dropped to her knees and wept.</p><p>In the succeeding weeks, she was so happy—the happiest she'd been in five years—that her housemates were treated to an assortment of homecooked meals and red wine. Even Caius. (Because Bella figured it wasn't his fault that he came home to an unwelcome stranger in his house one day, one that couldn't even pay rent. Even she'd be upset at that. So. Caius was just Caius.)</p><p>But when she arrived at a departmental lecture one night and heard Dean Denali give a big speech, announcing the new wing for the liberal arts programs, a sinking, suspicious feeling settled in her gut.</p><p>Skeptic, she squinted her eyes at Marcus. "Was this...?"</p><p>
  <em>Was this Aro's doing?</em>
</p><p>Marcus merely snorted and returned to his book.</p><p>When the end of the third month came, she pooled her savings and stocked the fridge. Each evening was a showcase of Greek and Italian culinary selections, and she discovered that Caius was Grecian and that he thought her cooking was "perfectly tolerable."</p><p>Same old, same old.</p><p>"Alright. I'll bite. This is the fifth night in a row," Aro had a perplexed look on his face when she placed a wine bottle in the middle of the table. <em>Barbaresco.</em> Vintage. "What exactly are we celebrating?"</p><p>She levelled him with a stare. He blinked innocently at her.</p><p>"I don't know how you did it. And I don't even want to think about how much it cost," Bella whispered quietly. "Aro… thank you."</p><p>Aro laughed under his breath and pretended not to know. When Bella turned to the kitchen counter to fetch the <em>souvlaki, </em>she missed the meaningful glance that both Aro and Caius shared.</p><hr/><p>Notes:</p><p><em>Souvlaki</em> is Greek pork skewers. Has this dip that is just <em>soooooo</em> good. My mouth's watering just thinking about it</p><p><em>Kopi luwak</em> is expensive coffee that has been, ah, internally processed by palm civet cats</p><p>I'm thinking next chapter, maybe I'll introduce with the twins. And maybe try my hand at some sexual scenes. Yes? Yes. See ya</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi! If you're interested, I also have an A/M/C/OC fic called "Alethiology in Volterra." Please give it a read when you have time. Let me know what you think after!</p><p>You can also reach me on tumblr at eserethriddle .tumblr .com.</p><p>Reveri x</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <em>Part Three</em> </span>
</p><p>Sulpicia and Athenodora are the married couple living on the first floor of the townhouse. They have two adoptive children, Jane and Alec – twins – nearly inseparable at eight years of age. Come winter break, Bella ushers the twins into the top floor loft after their parents drop them off for a weekend trip.</p><p>"I'm shocked. You don't look like you'd volunteer to babysit," Bella tells Caius when the kids rush past her and into the living room, depositing themselves on each side of the light-haired man on the couch. "…Or that children would like you."</p><p>"Only those two." Aro chuckles from his place on the armchair. Bella raises a brow. "You'll see."</p><p>Caius glares at them both.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Jane and Alec may be young, but that does not mean they act like kids at all. The fact that Caius <em>likes</em> them completely explains how agreeable they are. But still. They didn't throw tantrums and instead preferred to spend their time mimicking everything Caius did (laughable attempts at glaring and scowling included). They were unbelievably <em>adorable </em>too. Like, a kitten holding a knife adorable. Would probably bite your finger off but has chubby cheeks adorable.</p><p>Alec was the more outgoing twin and was unafraid to take liberties with people. Loud pitter patters sounded in the hallway and the kid confidently walked right into Bella's bedroom without a knock or a hello. Book in his left hand and insistent raised arms, Alec wordlessly demanded to be pulled in next to her. Bella complied and tried not to melt at the sight of the little kid huddled in the comforter of her bed.</p><p>"So who are you?" Alec asked flippantly, hands busily puffing the thick comforter. "This was Carlisle's room."</p><p>"You can call me Bella. And it's my room now."</p><p>"Hmmm. Ok." That seemed enough to satisfy him. He pushed his book to her chest. "Read to me."</p><p>"What's the magic word?"</p><p>Alec's face pulled back into a look of confusion, "Read to me <em>now?"</em></p><p>Bella rolled her eyes. "Starts with a 'P' and ends with a 'lease.'"</p><p>"Oh. You're one of <em>those</em> adults." The kid drawled with his kid voice. Bella tutted at him and pretended to sleep. "Fine. <em>Please</em> read the book. I can't get past page five. There's this word…"</p><p>"Which word?" Alec pulled the book open hurriedly and pointed to the word 'cautious'. "Ah, alright."</p><p>Bella maneuvered around the bed so that the both of them could read the book under her night light. Alec's chin was tucked into his chest as he leaned against her torso. He tried the words on his tongue as she read. "Once upon a time, there lived a woodcutter and his wife. Their early days were lived in bliss in a small wood cottage with their two children, Hansel and Gretel…"</p><p>That night, when Alec had fallen asleep on her bed, Bella tiptoed out of her room and startled to find his female twin glowering outside her door, arms crossed above her chest and foot tapping.</p><p>The mini Caius spoke. "Alec's in there."</p><p>It wasn't a question, but Bella nodded and pulled Jane up into her arms, letting the girl peek through the thin crevice of the bedroom door.</p><p>Jane's face crumpled, and her cry was laced with betrayal. "He fell asleep <em>without me?"</em></p><p>"You can sleep next to him if you like," Bella whispered. "I can take the couch."</p><p>Jane pulled her head back as she stared at Bella, eyes wide with newfound amazement. "Even if it's <em>your</em> <em>room?"</em></p><p>"Sure!" Bella grinned knowingly. "If you say the magic word."</p><p>Jane scowled at her.</p><p>The next morning, Bella lures the two kids out of her bed with promise of pancakes, blueberries, and whipped cream. Alec is shoving a syrupy mess halfway into his mouth when he boisterously declares, "I love Bella!"</p><p>Marcus paused and drawled, "Really now. How much?"</p><p>Alec, unable to understand the teasing in Marcus' tone, stretched his arms wide, nearly knocking the orange juice pitcher off the table. "Thiiiis much!"</p><p>Jane wrinkles her nose at the older woman, all the while pompously eating a blueberry. "Don't let it get to your head. You're just okay."</p><p>Aro chuckles from where he was seated. Bella pinches Alec's cheek and adds another swirl of whipped cream on top of his pancakes. She hovers the can of whipped cream above Jane's plate and pulls her arm back at the last second, instead choosing to blow a raspberry at the toddler. Jane hisses in response.</p><p>Caius rolled his eyes. "Real mature, Bella."</p><p>That day, while the twins went out with Aro and Caius, presumably for toy shopping, Bella and Marcus opted to stay indoors. When the door closed behind them, Bella threw an inquiring look at Marcus.</p><p>"I hate snow." Her housemate said simply. "What's your excuse?"</p><p>"Well…" Bella laughed lowly, nervous eyes darting around the apartment. "…the laundry won't wash itself. Yeah. Laundry." She turned and headed for the clothes hampers. "And if the doorman buzzes, call me, would you? I'm expecting some deliveries."</p><p>Marcus squinted suspiciously at her retreating figure. "Sure."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>A couple of days passed, the twins had gone off with their mothers for the holidays, and Bella's delivery was <em>late.</em></p><p>Well, not <em>all</em> of them. Most of her online purchases had already reached the apartment. The Christmas tree had already been set up next to the grand piano, and she and Aro spent the afternoon decorating it with the rest of her orders, consisting of lights and ribbons and dainty, sparkling ornaments. Aro had been so pleased with its arrival, and Caius had looked dumbfounded (but not scowling) at the mess they made in the living room.</p><p>Marcus had to explain to her that they hadn't really been the type to celebrate the yuletide season for the longest time. "Well that won't do at all," Bella replied. "Christmas is a happy time."</p><p>And yet, despite her own words, Bella remained anxious. Not because she was spending her holidays away from Forks, but because one of her more, um, <em>personal</em> purchases was somewhere <em>out there </em>in the winter wilderness. She'd badgered customer service, and the representative insisted they still had two days to verify the location of the parcel before they could declare it – heaven forbid – <em>missing</em>, and assured her the insurance was still active, so she had nothing to worry about in case of its loss. A Christmas nightmare.</p><p>"I paid fifty euros to have it tagged as priority mail! What do you think same day shipping means?" she snapped into her phone and dumped herself onto the sofa with a grunt.</p><p>"You're still expecting a delivery?" Aro asked as he settled on the spot next to her.</p><p>Bella nodded, not meeting his gaze, fingers tightening around the book she'd picked up to read.</p><p>Aro hummed shortly. "Perhaps it's gotten stuck in the Christmas traffic?"</p><p>Bella winced.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>On the night of the twenty-fifth, Bella had presented a wrapped gift to each of her roommates.</p><p>She'd handed them over with shy greetings and gratitude-filled thanks for everything they'd done for her that year. Caius obviously hadn't expected anything beyond civility, and his reaction (was it a smile? A scowl? A constipated smi-cowl?) had prompted deep laughter from both her and Marcus. She adamantly refused when Aro offered to buy her something in return (since they really hadn't prepared anything in celebration for Christmas). <em>A welcoming gift</em>, Aro tried to reason, and Bella teased him with a: <em>What, Aro, now after I've been living here for six months?</em></p><p>"You are <em>not</em> spending one more dime on me," Bella insisted further, stern, and then began to fidget. "And that's why I had a hard time picking out the gifts… but I still hope you like them…"</p><p>Aro made a delighted sound from the back of his throat when he'd unwrapped his gift – a framed charcoal-drawn portrait of him and his partners (which Bella had commissioned from Leah, one of the few art majors she knew).</p><p>"Sorry, I know it's cheesy, but all I know about you is you're a bit of a family man…" Bella bit her lip. "And I noticed there weren't much pictures of you three around here, so…" She trailed off with a weak shrug.</p><p>His gaze softened. "Not at all. Thank you, Bella."</p><p>As Aro hovered around the living room, looking for the ideal spot to hang the portrait, Caius carefully unwrapped his present. "Before you say anything," Bella interjected as he pulled out the brown paper bag. "It may not be <em>kopi luwak,</em> but my barista friends were able to pull some strings and got me some of the beans that won Coffee Masters this year."</p><p>Caius' expression slackened, and Marcus started chuckling.</p><p>"I honestly would not have gotten him anything else." Aro told her. "Good job, you."</p><p><em>It's also the most expensive from all the gifts I'm giving tonight</em>, Bella wanted to say, but that was already a given. He was such a, dare she say, <em>diva.</em></p><p>Caius regarded her with a cool gaze and muttered, "Thank you."</p><p>Bella feigned bad hearing. "Hmm? Could you repeat that?"</p><p>He rolled his eyes at her and went to the kitchen, evidently eager to brew a new batch.</p><p>"Now, for <em>my</em> gift." Marcus announced, drumming his fingers on the box before ripping off the ribbons elaborately.</p><p>"You already know what yours is, Marcus." Bella rolled her eyes. "You literally said not to give you anything unless it was that. Which, by the way, traumatizes and cracks me up at the same time."</p><p>Aro peered over his shoulder and reddened to the tips of his ears when Marcus proudly showed him his choice of gift – a book – but not just <em>any </em>book…</p><p>"What is it?" Caius called from the kitchen.</p><p>"Nothing." Aro replied tersely, confiscating the book from Marcus' hands and taking it into their bedroom, but not before hitting the brunet on the head with it. "Just a book."</p><p>Caius returns with a decanter of freshly brewed coffee and mugs. He pours a cup for each of them, and asks, "So? What book?"</p><p>Marcus starts laughing when Bella plucks the receipt out of the box in Marcus' lap and hands it over to Caius. The blond took the thin piece of paper between his fingers and squinted, reading aloud, "<em>Dharma, Artha, Kama, &amp; Moksha: Vatsyayana's… Kama… su…tra…?"</em> He'd crumpled the receipt in his fist and thrown it at Marcus' head. "<em>Marcus!"</em> He hissed. "You imbecile!"</p><p>Bella keeled over herself in laughter. "It's limited edition, too!"</p><p>"We'll make good use of it," Marcus promised her. Her laughter intensified into half-hooting snorts and giggles.</p><p>When the laughter and embarrassment subsided (and Bella learned that Caius' pale face could become so unbelievably <em>pink</em>), Aro had asked, "What about your delivery? Has it arrived yet?"</p><p>Bella waved her hand dismissively and sipped at her coffee. Too hot. "Nah. Courier lost it. It's already been refunded though, so it's fine."</p><p>"Well, what was it?" Aro pressed. "I could get you one for Christmas."</p><p><em>Hurk!</em> Bella almost spat out her coffee. "Nope! Thanks for the offer though!" She stood and ambled to her room, porcelain cup in tow. "Have to call Charlie now. Nighty night! Merry Christmas."</p><p>Aro looked after her, brows raised. "…Merry Christmas…?"</p><p>Caius glanced pointedly at Marcus. "What was that about?"</p><p>Marcus shrugged. Hell if he knew.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>After her call with Charlie, Bella checked her voicemails and delved into the cold comforter of her bed.</p><p>Alice's familiar rambling soothed her. <em>Merry Christmas, Bella! We're in Washington until the 31</em><em>st</em><em>. Brand new family means brand new holiday memories to make, apparently. Wish you'd at least flown back with us, but you have uni duties, so I understand. And oh! I got you the cutest periwinkle dress…</em></p><p><em>Bella, honey, I hope you're not overworking yourself. I worry about you. </em>Bella tried not to roll over and cry. <em>Over here though, I'm doing fine, really fine, I swear, Charlie will tell you the same thing. And we're both gaining some pounds! The oncologist is ecstatic. Mommy just misses you a lot, sweetie. Come home soon…</em></p><p>There was one more voicemail, and given the Caller ID, she hesitated to play it.</p><p><em>Bella! It's Jess. I know it's a little out of the blue, but Jake, Seth, and Lauren are flying over before New Year's! So naturally we're all going to have a reunion at the 28</em> <em>th</em> <em>! Mike says you have no choice and we're coming to get you anyway. So, like, see you then! I know you won't have a date for it, but lemme tell you, Jake is, like, super hot now—</em></p><p>Bella pressed end, then delete.</p><p>She had planned to <em>at least</em> spend Christmas night in the throes of pleasure. So, honestly? Fuck Fedex.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>After they had lunch on the twenty-eighth, Bella informed her housemates that she'd be spending the night out with some friends from undergrad. She sat beside Aro on the chaise lounge next to the windows, and the snowy hail overlooking the neighborhood almost reminded Bella of Forks. Almost. Snuggling into her knitted blanket, Bella wrapped her hands around the mug of hot chocolate.</p><p>"You don't strike me as the partying type." Marcus said simply.</p><p>"I'm not," Bella confirmed. "But they're hauling me with them anyway."</p><p>"Sounds like you have great friends." Aro recoiled at the frosty look Bella gave him. "Or not."</p><p>"It's the annual 'Get Bella So Drunk She'll Forget How Single She Is.'" Bella deadpanned, and then wondered aloud, "I wonder how many shots it'll take this time?"</p><p>Aro chuckled. Looking up from his work laptop, Caius stared at her bemusedly.</p><p>"What?" she asked.</p><p>He squinted his eyes at her for a moment then looked away. "Nothing."</p><p>She eyed at him suspiciously, and then tilted her head. Now that she thought about it…</p><p>"Aro?" Bella sipped at her drink tentatively. "What do you do for a living?"</p><p>Caius looked up from his laptop again. Marcus scoffed, "He just does what he likes."</p><p>Curiosity unpacified, Bella made a face. "What about Caius?"</p><p>"What kind of answer would you like?" Aro inquired, a playful hint in the way he spoke. He and Caius shared a look, and then laughed under their breaths.</p><p>Bella narrowed her eyes at them. "What does that mean?"</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>"Do you <em>seriously</em> not know? Have you genuinely <em>never</em> heard of the Volturi Conglomerate?" Alice nearly screeched. If the Finance major were in Bella's room that moment, she'd have smacked the back of Bella's head with a ten-wheeler truck, no doubt about it. "<em>Bella!</em> Ugh. You're not Diogenes. Get outta that claypot, you cavewoman!"</p><p>Through the phone, Alice rambled on, "Aro Volturi owns, like, the largest private corporation in Europe. The Volturi Conglomerate matches the Pacific-Asia GNP <em>every</em> <em>year</em>. The only reason I met him was because my stepdad's an executive, and my mom redesigned the building they're staying in right now."</p><p>"Oh." Bella blinked. "So Aro's a businessman?"</p><p>"I facepalmed, Bella. You just made me facepalm. Hard." Alice said. "You're hopeless."</p><p>"If he's such a big deal then why's he living in an apartment, renting out rooms to grad students like me?" Bella muttered. "To me he's just Aro, you know?"</p><p>"No, Bella, I <em>don't</em> know." Alice replied flatly. "I'm trying to clinch Valedictorian just to be offered a position when I graduate. And to answer your question, I've told you this twenty times now: Volterra is the—"</p><p>"—Silicon Valley of Finance," Bella finished, waving her hand dismissively in the air as she paced around her room. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Still doesn't explain anything."</p><p>"Well, you know billionaires. They have eccentric personalities. And you can't deny he has secrets to keep. He wouldn't appreciate the limelight shining on his <em>private</em> life, if you get my drift."</p><p>"Yeah, he's poly, so what?" Alice muffled a frustrated screech into her pillow. Bella laughed. "Okay, fine, fine, fine. Don't get riled up. I get it. But what about Caius?"</p><p>"You have to understand that <em>nobody</em> in the business world knows what Aro Volturi looks like. <em>Nobody.</em> Executives would <em>kill</em> for a meeting with him." Alice mumbled when she settled down. "It's Caius who acts as the face for the company. Nobody messes with him. They just don't know he and Aro aren't just 'partners' in more than one sense."</p><p>Bella hummed, imagining Caius in a room with hotshot CEOs pissing their pants. Aro pulling strings in the dark.</p><p>Yeah, she could see that.</p><p>"Talking to you about finance honestly depresses me." Alice groaned. "So, in lighter news, <em>what</em> disastrous outfit are you wearing to the club tonight, and what do I have to do for you to throw it out? And before you even try and lie to me, turn on your camera."</p><p>Bella groaned.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Bella had a checklist for a number of things she expected to happen at the club. Jess downing five tequila shots in a row? Check. Mike trying to outdrink Seth (who had the constitution of a bear)? Check. Jacob trying to convince her to move back to Forks for the hundredth time? Check. Lauren throwing pitiful looks at her because she was (once again) alone during Christmastime? Checkity check. All before twelve, too.</p><p>Bella patted the table twice before pushing herself out of the booth. She slurred, "I gotta <em>peee</em>."</p><p>Okay, so <em>maybe</em> it wasn't just Jess who took five tequila shots in a row. But hey, this was the <em>one time</em> every year that Bella was allowed to wallow in her misery and not be judged for it. In fact, she was <em>expected</em> to.</p><p>Because at twenty-four, Bella felt so remarkably <em>small</em>. It had been four years since she moved away from Forks in high hopes she'd find a sense of purpose in the outside world. Maybe even experience the all-consuming romance Austen liked to write so much about (Bella's closest encounter being that moment with a barista named Eddie in sixth street, but she couldn't muster the courage to ask for his number so that was just another daydream down the drain). But she was <em>twenty</em> (two-zero, twenty) when since she left Forks, and she was <em>twenty-four</em> (two-four, twenty-four!) now. In all those years, purpose and passion eluded her life with a vengeance. At least, thanks to Alice, she presently had better, more agreeable living conditions. A comfy bed, a bathtub, a well-paying TA position. All that was left to address was her romanceless self, and she'd have constructed half of Maslow's pyramid with rented resources – esteem and self-actualization be damned (it just didn't help that her apartment doubled as Greek Gods R Us).</p><p>As she waited in line for the bathroom, swaying mindlessly on her own, Bella had an amazing idea pop into her head. Pulling out her phone from her back pocket, she scrolled through her contacts, dialed a number, and giggled to herself.</p><p>Five rings, and the call finally connected.</p><p><em>"</em> <em>Hello?"</em></p><p>Bella giggled at the sound of his voice. So deep and rich. "Heeey Marcus. Howzzit goin'?"</p><p>A beat of silence, and then,<em>"You're drunk."</em></p><p>"Yesss," Bella confirmed happily. "But that isn't important right now. What's important is I <em>need</em> some tips." Bella hiccupped. "Wait, should I have called Aro instead?"</p><p>"<em>Tips?</em>" Marcus sounded amused. "<em>You're drunk, and you wanted to ask tips from Aro? Let me get him</em>."</p><p>"Yesss," Bella said again in the same tone. "Because I need to go home with someone tonight. And I've downed enough shots to gather my courage but, like, I don't know how to—" She burped. "—<em>fluurt.</em>" She cleared her throat and tried again. "Flurrt. <em>Flirt.</em> There."</p><p>Another beat of silence, and then it was Aro's voice. <em>"Bella, where are you?"</em></p><p>"Aro! Hiiii." Bella thought about it. "Hmm. I'm next in line for the bathroom?"</p><p><em>"</em> <em>No, I meant—"</em></p><p>The bathroom door opened, and Bella whispered into her phone hurriedly before placing it on the sink, "Wait. Wait. I need to pee. Wait here."</p><p>After doing her business, she washed her hands and dried it on her jeans, then picked her phone up again. Stepping out of the stall and into the waiting alley, she tumbled into Jacob's muscular frame.</p><p>"Oh!" She tried to blink away the haziness in her vision. "Jake! Hi. Sorry."</p><p>"Hey Bells," He placed two heavy hands on her shoulders, steadying her form. "You took a while. I was a bit worried."</p><p>"'m fine," Bella mumbled, swatting his hands from her shoulders. "Thanks for looking out for me though. You're a great friend."</p><p>Jacob sighed, pulling her to the side of the alley. "Bella, we need to talk about this."</p><p>Bella remembered the phone in her hand. <em>Tips!</em> "Ah, wait, I'm busy—"</p><p>"No, you're not. You always do this, Bella." Jacob said insistently. "You know how much I like you and you never give me a chance." Jacob cupped her face into his hands. "Give me a chance."</p><p>Bella frowned at her phone, and then at Jacob. "I've told you, Jake, you're a <em>great friend.</em> A thousand times."</p><p>Jacob shook his head at her. Like it was in slow motion, Bella saw his face inch closer to hers, and a lurching feeling crept up from her stomach. "Jake, I'm gonna—"</p><p>Their lips met, and the back of Bella's fist connected with his face as she pushed past him. As he watched her keel over to empty the contents of her stomach onto the curbside, Jacob winced.</p><p>"Aw, hell, Bells!"</p><p>She felt Jacob's hands gather her hair away from her face, and she swatted them away again. "Go. Away. Jake." She grumbled irately.</p><p>He took his hands back, but he stayed next to her quietly. Bella concentrated on breathing. In. Out. In. Out. It took ten minutes of dry retching until her stomach finally simmered down. Once she found her bearings, she stood wobbly and wiped the edges of her mouth on her sleeve.</p><p>And then she remembered. The call!</p><p>When Bella finally looked at her screen again, the call had been dropped. Bella let out a long-suffering groan and levelled Jacob with a glare. "Seriously, Jake?"</p><p>"C'mon, Bella," he said softly. "I've been in love with you since we were kids."</p><p>"You know I don't like you that way, Jake."</p><p>"You're only saying that because—"</p><p>Bella shook her head, brushed past him and into the parking lot, announcing, "That's it! I'm going home."</p><p>Jacob held on to her wrist. "Bella, you can't keep on avoiding this—"</p><p>"Stop <em>touching</em> me!" She'd had it. <em>Had. It!</em> She slapped his hand away and hissed. "Go back inside, Jake. I'm going <em>home</em>."</p><p>"Fine!" Jacob relented, exhaling sharply through his nose. "I'll take you home."</p><p>"I think she's made it quite clear," A man's voice replied. "That she isn't interested."</p><p>Bella's head whipped around, and her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Leaning against a familiar Bentley was…</p><p>"<em>Caius?"</em></p><p>"She's with me. In the parking lot," She heard him say into this phone and before pocketing it. "Aro and Marcus were looking for you inside."</p><p>She stepped nearer to him, eyes wide and disbelieving with drunken amazement. "You guys are here for <em>me?" </em>She reached out to him and poked him in the chest. He <em>felt</em> real. "Am I dreaming?"</p><p>Caius took a sniff and scowled at her. "Why drink if you can't hold your liquor?"</p><p>"Why study philosophy if everything is meaningless?" Bella murmured as she climbed into the luxury car. <em>Mmm. Brown leather.</em> Would be such a shame if somebody <em>barfed</em> on it. Hehe. "Some things we do to forget our insignificance."</p><p>"Alright, Nietzsche, pack it up," Marcus announced his arrival with a roll of his eyes as he took the passenger seat. "Ye Night has cometh to an end."</p><p>"Don't throw up in my car." Caius warned her seriously. "I'll charge you for it."</p><p>Bella couldn't help the laugh bubbling in her mouth. "I don't doubt it."</p><p>The door next to her re-opened, and Bella scooted over to the opposite end so that Aro could take the seat next to her. She realized that he might have been speaking with Jake as she got settled in the car. Was it still called speaking if he had dismissed the teenager like a lint on his cervelt sleeve? Oh well.</p><p>She couldn't resist the shiver that ghosted over her skin when Aro's dark, reproving gaze settled on her.</p><p>"You are very troublesome, miss Swan." He clicked his tongue at her. "And if you think you're getting out of this unscathed, think again."</p><p>Unafraid, she peered closer to inspect Aro's face in the dark light of the window. She squinted.</p><p>"Aro, for a man, you have such pretty eyelashes."</p><p>Aro recoiled, and Marcus chuckled from his place in the front seat. "Bella, you are the worst type of drunk there is." Marcus said.</p><p>She pulled back and tilted her head at him. "And what type is that?"</p><p>"The belligerent kind." Marcus answered her with a look. "And because you interrupted our Friday night, we're going to make sure you regret ever picking up that shot glass."</p><p>A delicious thrill went through her. She threw him a smooth grin and quipped, low and suggestive, "Is that a promise?"</p><p>Marcus' lips thinned. Caius' hold on the wheel tightened. Aro tapped his index finger on his arm impatiently and looked out the window.</p><p>When she was met with nothing but thick silence, Bella sat back down properly on the plush seating as the car pulled away into the night, pleased with herself.</p><p>The drive back home couldn't get any faster.</p><hr/><p>Notes:</p><p>Cervelt is one of the most exclusive fabrics in the world. It is a very fine, natural down fiber from New Zealand red deer. The down fibres are difficult to spot amongst the deer hairs, and the separation process is very detailed and delicate. Because of this intricate process, it is also nicknamed the 'Diamond of Luxury Fibres'. Cervelt is lightweight, warm and beautifully soft to touch. It cannot compare to any other fibre as it is in a league of its own.</p><p>And. Yes. Bella ordered an adult toy for herself for Christmas. And don't worry. It's not lost forever. It's going to get delivered, but at the most embarrassing moment possible (which may, or may not be, the first part of the next chapter). It's going to be hilarious. You'll love it, but be patient.</p><hr/><p><strong>A/N: </strong><strong>For Twilight fanfiction readers, writers, and artists alike:</strong> I've made a discord server where we can meet each other and hang around. Everyone in the fandom is welcome. Get to know the people behind your favorite fics, the readers cheering you on, or even the artists who breathe life into your characters. The discord server link is <strong>discord .gg/qKjcTRb</strong> and we're waiting for you to join us!</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em><span class="u"> Part Four</span> </em>
</p><p>"You know, in the nightmare flat I used to share with Jess, there was this one time I came home to her and Mike playing strip monopoly—"</p><p>Marcus cringed, hard, before pushing the babbling woman more forcefully towards the bathroom. "I really don't want to know."</p><p>Bella had whirled around to continue her story, but Marcus closed the door on her face to cut her off.</p><p>"Sober up and take a bath," he barked through the door and left when he heard the shower running.</p><p>He stalked down the hallway and found Caius and Aro in the living room, hanging up their coats and unclasping the topmost buttons of their linen shirts before collapsing on the long couch. He sat on the armchair opposite them, quiet, taking the time to gather his thoughts before diving headfirst into the conversation that was soon to follow. A minute later, and Aro spoke first.</p><p>"Maybe we could put it to a vote." There it was. "I know we're all thinking about it."</p><p>Caius looked away to the windows, choosing to pin his brooding gaze on the midnight skies instead.</p><p>"Why would we need a fourth?" he asked quietly. A little hesitation, and then he added, "Is this not enough?"</p><p>Marcus reached forward to the blond and threaded their fingers together. He held on and rested their twined hands on Caius' knee, then waited until Caius met his gaze again. "Of course not," Marcus promised.</p><p>Caius' brows drew together. "Then why?"</p><p>Marcus shrugged, unsure of it himself. "Because it would feel right." He answered tentatively. And then tried again, "Because it would feel good."</p><p>A scoff. "And if you get hurt?"</p><p>Marcus smiled tenderly at the hard-hearted man across him. He loved Caius <em>so</em> much. "If there's anything I've learned, it's that hurt's part of the process."</p><p>"Then it's decided," Aro pronounced, then briefly considered Caius with an even stare. "For what it's worth, Caius, I would destroy anyone who would dare hurt any of us." A split second and a weak half-smile, "I just have a feeling it's not in her."</p><p>Caius sighed, looking down again. "…I know."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Aro would recognize the silver glint in Bella's gaze anywhere. It was the one he usually wore, sharp, dark, and piercing, reserved for moments when he was teasing, mocking, or planning all things indecent. So when she emerged from her bedroom, hair still faintly damp from her bath as she padded barefoot into the living space with her gaze molten, wild, and strong… he knew.</p><p>But then she deposited herself straight into Aro's lap, and all common sense left him.</p><p>His jaw clenched stiff as she settled on top of him, and one of his hands instinctively went around and rested on a side of her waist, the other clenching into a tight fist in itself on the arm of the divan.</p><p>"Alright. Why are you in a dress," he managed to rasp.</p><p>"Isn't it obvious?" Bella said, plain as day, doe eyes guileless. Her hands made ripples on the blue chiffon fabric as she hiked her dress up. "I've come to seduce you." A cute head tilt with a small, secretive flirt of a smile, "All of you."</p><p>Silent laughter rumbled from behind her, and Bella turned to find the source. Caius' shoulders shook as he hid his laughing mouth behind his fingers. "And how do you suppose you'd do that, kitten."</p><p>"Mm-hm," Aro lied, concentrating on the patterns on the ceiling. "I'm not easily seduced, you see."</p><p>Marcus watched as the blue dress shifted around Bella's slender form, twisting and flowing like soft silk as she moved around and pulled her legs closer to herself. Smooth legs and knees on display as she lifted them to her chest. All that fussing yet she kept herself on Aro's lap. Marcus appreciated the view from where he sat, because of course he did.</p><p>"Well," Bella blushed pink at the apples of her cheeks. "Philosophy?"</p><p>Marcus couldn't help the smile that surfaced on his face. "Alright," he allowed, tongue darting to wet his lips quickly. His grin only stretched wider when he saw Bella's eyes unabashedly locked on his mouth. "Demonstrate then."</p><p>They watched her take a deep, shaky inhale, and under her breath, she whispered, almost to herself, "Okay." She gnawed on her lip, eyes nervously darting around. "But please don't laugh at me."</p><p>Aro's hold tightened on her. "We won't."</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>There was a delicate shift in the brunette's gaze – a little less shameful and a lot more dangerous – as she focused on the figure of the man whose space she was imposing. She leaned more of her weight onto Aro's broadness before taking his free hand from where it lay and clasped it between her own. Languorously, she pulled her stare from the sight of their woven hands, to his muscled form, and then upward, to the half-lidded, devouring gaze that was staring back at her.</p><p>"I've always wanted to understand," Bella began, slowly putting his captured hand onto the other anchor of her waist, securing herself on him, then rising up to rest both of her palms atop his chest as she straddled him, "the talk of all-consuming romance in philosophical books and poetry." Weightless lashes fluttered on top of her cheeks as she considered her next words. Her cold breath ignited a fiery path on Aro's skin. "Of how love is an unstoppable forest flame… a madness… a deep-burning pain bottled in the sense of unknowing… A fundamental <em>want.</em>" Her teeth pulled in at her bottom lip. "And then I met you, then I also wanted to understand what desire was, and what it was doing to me, and why I had this bruised patina of needing to be touched when I looked at you. Why I feel like I would recognize you in the dark. Why it makes sense to be next to you. To all of you." She paused, shaking her head softly. "And philosophy can only teach you so much, but it won't give you answers to things you have to <em>feel</em> and lose yourself to understand."</p><p>"If I give you the chance," she continued. "To know me, to rend me into a passionate mess of forest fires and insensible, erotic wants, would you take me?" Even for a second, Aro's smoldering gaze never left hers. "Would you strip me bare, into madness, into you, and us, and the sweet, languid torture of physicality?" Her eyes dropped to the drying state of his slightly parted mouth that she so very wanted to taste. "Could you take me to its peak, Aro?"</p><p>As a final touch, she added something sweet, "Please?"</p><p>"Perhaps you need convincing," Bella murmured as she dipped her knees and sunk further into each side of him. "Let me talk in a language you can understand."</p><p>She took half a breath and bent down to seize Aro's lips with her own, soft at first, shy, exploring the feel of him, savoring his scent and his flavor until a moan left her. His hands had pressed and suddenly gripped deeper, and his hot, wandering touch delved under the skirt of her dress, grasping and pulling her closer to him by the skin of her thighs, crawling upwards inch by inch, closer and closer until he reached the part of her that felt so very aflame. She lifted her hands from his shoulders and fisted them into his hair, relishing the feel of his mouth and his slick, roving tongue against hers. They pulled apart after what could have been minutes, hours, quick breaths coming out in short, warm pants between them. Both their pupils were full, blown wide as they stared each other down, and Bella smiled smug at the haziness in his expression.</p><p>"Have I seduced you yet?"</p><p>Aro blinked twice and caught himself, before reminding everybody in the room that his hands were still under her skirt by giving Bella's ass a hard smack. A cross between a sultry moan and a stunned yelp escaped the woman on his lap, and he knew she could feel his stirring hardness so he smirked, keeping his fingers close <em>there</em>, still drawing circles on the expanse of smooth, hidden skin.</p><p>She would only ever need to wear this dress to get his undivided attention now.</p><p>"Quite." He tilted his head to the side in consideration. "But…"</p><p>"But?"</p><p>She blinked back at him, confused, still breathing hard, and he nearly wanted to pick her up and away into the abandon where he could have his wicked way with her. He needed to put her… somewhere else… before the twitch below him worsened. "A commendable first try. But let us show you how it's done. Caius?"</p><p>Bella sobered when a deep voice behind her spoke.</p><p>"Of course."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>"Come here." Caius ordered. Bella's eyes went wide as saucers, and because Caius didn't look like he was joking at all, she disentangled her weak legs from Aro's sides and his wicked, wicked hands before padding across the short distance.</p><p>He was still sitting on the sofa, outwardly cool and self-assured as his eyes roamed over her form, slowly assessing every inch of her as she stood before him.</p><p>Bella bit her lip. "What should I do?"</p><p>"Strip me."</p><p>Bella's mouth dropped open and she gaped at him. Her mind went blank. "…Uh?"</p><p>"You said you wanted to understand, ah, how did you say, 'the sweet, languid torture of physicality.'" He told her, face perfectly perfect and serious. She nodded once. "So, strip me."</p><p>But he was casually lounged in front of her, an arm resting on the back of the couch and his legs crossed boyishly, with the ankle of his right leg resting on the knee of the other. She hesitated. "Y…You want me to… s-strip you…?" she parroted, becoming increasingly unsure. This was <em>Caius</em> – platinum blond, ice cold, venomous Caius – telling her to <em>strip</em> him? Mm-hm, yes, she was definitely in an odd mix of heaven and hell.</p><p>Caius hummed, low and short. "And if you do as I say, I'll strip you, too." His voice dropped even lower, and brilliant blue eyes beheld her. "Would you like that?"</p><p>Mind still blank, Bella gave a single, curt nod.</p><p>"Of course you will." An upward tilt to the edge of his lip, and he held out a hand to pull her to him. He pulled her down to his level, slow, just to give her leeway to compose and ready herself, before guiding her by the back of her knees to straddle the sides of him. Her form was taut, and Caius pressed a soft flutter of kisses into the inside of each of her wrists to soften her, and he very nearly laughed at the instant melting of her form against his own. "Uh-uh, sweet girl, you're the seducer tonight, remember?"</p><p>"But you'll do it so much better than me anyway," she whined, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder, then wrapping her arms around his neck. She dipped her nose into his collar and breathed in the scent of him that was all musk and elusive sweetness and so distinctly <em>male</em>, "I can tell, I don't need to strip you to know you're Adonis under all those layers."</p><p><em>That</em> caught him off guard, and he let out a breathy chuckle. <em>Adonis</em>,<em> that's a new one.</em></p><p>Methodically, Caius took her hands from his nape and sat her upright. There was a small, petulant pout on Bella's face when he was finally able to pull her away and he smirked.</p><p>"I'll teach you." He let go of her hands and stretched his arms on the back of the couch, enjoying the sight of her squirming in front of him. "I'll tell you what to do. Trust me?"</p><p>Bella looked down at her hands, unsure, and then, very timidly, nodded.</p><p>Caius decided to reward her with praise. "Good girl. Now undo my buttons, then place your palms on me. Go on," he encouraged.</p><p>Not meeting his gaze, Bella took a deep breath and worked on his shirt. After pushing the fabric to reveal his warm, toned chest, she laid her shaking palms on him.</p><p>"Press your hands harder." Bella did. "Good. Now trail them, upward, to the sides of my neck, to my face. Keep it deep. Feel me." Bella did. "Now press your chest against me." Bella did, and she flushed crimson. Could he feel that she wasn't wearing her bra underneath the flimsy chiffon? She looked up to meet the glint in his eyes and oh my, he definitely <em>knew.</em> "Good girl. Now lean into the side of my face."</p><p>Bella dipped down and placed her cheek against his. A shuddering mewl left her when Caius' arms finally left the couch and found themselves stroking her sides. They drew downward, shaping, pulling, tracing gentle lines on the slope of her back.</p><p>"And?" Her heart was hammering in her chest. "What do I do next?"</p><p>"Place your lips on the shell of my ear." She complied. "Taste." She licked once. Twice. "Nibble." She bit, then by instinct, pulled. "<em>Good</em>," he nearly growled into her ear. Caius' lips started tracing the sweet spot where the edge of her jaw met the start of her neck with slightly sucking, open-mouthed kisses, then he made his way back to her ear and drawled, reminding her that this was a teaching lesson, "Now, whisper into my ear, as desperately as you can, kitten," he commanded huskily, crisp staccato, "<em>'Please <strong>fuck</strong> me</em>.'"</p><p>Bella whimpered against him. Her chest moved against his as hot breath left her in swift little huffs, and the feeling of his pressing, wandering hands and his encouraging nibbles started to overwhelm her, and <em>oh god,</em> when he started to <em>lick</em>, Bella felt the rush of blood in her head and the pounding in her veins... the downward spot of her that was soaking to become so very embarrassingly <em>wet</em>.</p><p>"Please, Caius," she begged, pressing her lips on the edge of his jaw in small, little kisses, choking back a sob of frustration. "Please <em>fuck</em> me. Please." She whimpered against his ear again. "You've seduced me enough."</p><p>He smiled at that. "Only because you asked so nicely, sweet girl." She almost sobbed when his hands left her hips, but his tone shifted deeper again, commanding her, "Look at me."</p><p>She pulled herself upright and stared at him obediently, mouth parting in an 'o' when his hands made their wicked way under her dress, up her thighs, past her underwear. Her lids closed by themselves in bliss when he found her tight bundle of nerves and he growled, "I said <em>look</em> at me." So her eyes popped wide again and she kept her doe gaze locked on his brilliant blue eyes. The entirety of the moment felt so very personal, and when a finger started to press lower, lower, <em>lower</em> until it was inside, her mouth mewled into a silent cry.</p><p>"<em>Please fuck me—</em>" she writhed against him. "—<em>please, please, please. . .</em>"</p><p>A hand gripped her chin, and he forced her to look at him, even as he added more fingers and <em>especially</em> at then – two fingers first, then three, then he started pumping and she <em>still</em> wasn't allowed to look away – so she begged him again and again until Caius <em>finally</em> relented. Magnanimous, his free hand found the back of her head and pushed her to him to capture her mouth and being into a bruising, all-consuming liplock of a kiss <em>— </em>and he kept kissing her and feeling her and pumping her and when she reached the tip of the high climb he took her, she moaned his name in release and lost herself in the fabled place where lightning met the dark.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>"Remember how we literally just said that we would take it slow," Marcus grumbled from where he sat. "so that we would have enough time to prove our serious intentions? Yeah, me neither." Aro snorted. "And since you took it that far, you might as well take her to bed."</p><p>Caius was oddly silent.</p><p>"She must have been really tired," Aro noted. "She passed right out."</p><p>Caius hummed, not really listening. He was totally not scenting the long, brown locks scattered all over him.</p><p>Marcus squinted at him suspiciously. "Right… Aro and I will just… go to the room first." Marcus deigned him with a serious look. "Put her to bed, Caius. Properly. It's going to be one hell of a morning when she wakes up."</p><p>Caius started moving when the doors to the master bedroom closed behind him. He secured Bella's legs around his hips and lifted her, nearly effortless, until the girl in his arms moved suddenly, instinctively gripping her arms tighter around his neck. He froze, and a soft sigh tickled the shape of his ear.</p><p>What was he going to do again?</p><p>Put her to bed. Right…</p><p>Wait.</p><p>Marcus didn't say <em>which</em> bed specifically, did he?</p><p>"Looks like it'll be a rough morning for you, kitten," he whispered into Bella's ear, and then headed for the doors closest to him with a smug, mischievous smirk.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Notes:</strong>
</p><p>If you know which philosophers Bella was paying homage to, then you know. Good for you.</p><p>I reserved the morning after for Marcus, and the arrival of Bella's wonderful, wonderful toy. It's gonna be lit af.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <em>Part Five</em> </span>
</p><p>There's nothing quite like waking up in an empty, unfamiliar room. The foreign wallpapers… the cotton, crisp scent of the bed… cool air on skin… coupled with the dull ache picking at the back of her head like a migraine and the bone-deep feeling of impending regret, Bella instinctively knew she had managed to achieve all conceivably devastating decisions of her life, even before memories of the previous night caught up with her waking.</p><p>Tequila.</p><p>Never again.</p><p>Finding refuge under the thick comforter sheets, face flaming red as she rued in her subconscious, Bella let the feeling of doom wash over her nerves and imagined she could probably die and decompose on the satin king bed that was very clearly not hers. She could do it. There was no shred of dignity left to her person anyway.</p><p>The door creaked open and she froze. Squeezing her eyes shut when the bed cushion dipped, Bella braced herself for the worst.</p><p>It was Marcus. "I know you're awake."</p><p>A whining sound left her when the comforter lifted. She plastered a scowl on her face and peeked one eye open, slowly adjusting to the daylight. She squinted at the smile on Marcus' face – too cheery and sophic for her liking.</p><p>"Please end me." she deadpanned in her rough morning voice. "End my suffering."</p><p>Marcus only smiled wider. "Good morning."</p><p>But nothing about this morning was particularly that. "…morning."</p><p>Bella willed herself to calm. At <em>least</em> it was him. If it had been any of the other two, she couldn't imagine what face she'd give…</p><p>"Last night was quite a show." Marcus ran a heavy, soothing hand through the messy top of her head. Voice dropping low into a husky morning whisper, "…Encore?"</p><p>An immediate squawk and she threw the nearest pillow at him. Marcus caught it easily with a chuckle.</p><p>"Alright, no need for violence." She tensed as he settled next to her and under the covers, self-indulgent and even-tempered Marcus. He threw a sidelong glance at her and hummed short. "I told them you'd do this."</p><p>Bella hesitated. "Do what?"</p><p>"Hide," Marcus clarified. "We took too many liberties last night and now you're hiding." His drawn-out sigh fanned across her cheeks. "It's not the impression I wanted to give."</p><p>"Impression." Bella repeated evenly. She had been too busy losing her mind (and her panties) that the only lasting impression she could have possibly garnered was on herself. "I assure you – the only person I'm horrified with is myself."</p><p>"Really?" Marcus' brows pushed together. "Why?"</p><p>"<em>Why?"</em> She barked out a self-depreciating laugh. "Because! I finally found a place where I was…" <em>Happy</em>. "…at ease. But because I was drunk, and lonely, and stupid…" She winced. "I ruined everything."</p><p>Marcus' brows raised slightly as he realized, "You're an overthinker."</p><p>"Hello? I'm a philosophy major?"</p><p>He ignored that. "Nothing's 'ruined,' Bella. On the contrary, we want to make this work." A slight pause. "Last night wasn't a mistake. Not for us. Unless…" he trailed off, eyes beseeching every inch of her face for an indication.</p><p>Bella held his gaze, silent for two long minutes. "I don't want it to be." she admitted in a low whisper. "But… I don't know what to do."</p><p>"I do." Marcus replied brightly. "Let's move your things to this room."</p><p>Bella sputtered. "T-That's rushing things!"</p><p>"Is it though? Bella, there's no handbook for how this works." He told her with a reassuring smile. "If you're not ready for anything physical, or want to take it back to how it was twenty-four hours ago, that's fine. We'll go slow. We'll take it at a pace you like. But if you do decide you want more, then that's also fine." Her gaze dropped to where his hands had wrapped around hers and squeezed. "Don't overthink. Just feel. Do what feels good."</p><p>She gnawed at her bottom lip nervously. "What if I do decide I want more?"</p><p>"Then nothing has to change. Let it happen," Marcus said simply. "I want us, too."</p><p>"…us?"</p><p>Marcus took a deep breath. "I want to wake up every morning and see you sleeping next to me. I want you with me on Friday nights when you're drunk, and every other night for as long as I can." The dark sincerity in his voice made her heart skip a beat as he went on, "I want to walk down the hall and see you and Caius arguing about how long he seeps his coffee for the hundredth time. I want to laugh at dinner, and I want to watch Aro hawk you down like a Merger &amp; Acquisitions just for a blush. I want to know every single thing that's going on in your sharp mind and I want to argue about every little detail just so I can catch you off guard and kiss you when you're mad." His hands cupped her face gingerly. "I want you, Bella, and it doesn't have to be now, or never, it just has to be us, and that's all I ask for." Her eyes shuttered when he pressed a featherlight kiss on her mouth and asked, "Bella, would you go steady with us?"</p><p>What else could she possibly say to that? "Marcus, I think I'd lose my mind if I didn't."</p><p>"Good." His grin was triumphant. He rested his forehead against hers for a period of comfort, savoring the silence and her thudding pulse under his fingertips. Suddenly he shoved the covers away and announced, "Now that's over with, let's get up and salvage breakfast before Caius and Aro burn the kitchen down."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Two fingers pressed to her lips pensively, Bella stared at the breakfast… food… thing on the dining table. "What… is this… exactly…" She scraped and poked at it with the tip of a fork. "Please… don't cook again."</p><p>Marcus was trying very hard not to laugh, lest Caius smack him with the cast iron he was struggling to scrub clean in the sink.</p><p>Aro shrugged helplessly. "At least we tried?"</p><p>"How did you three even survive without me?" Bella pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled. Between two people, how difficult was it even to prepare breakfast? "This is nuts!"</p><p>"And it's only going to get weirder." Aro started picking at his nails. "So. Breakfast diner at 8th street?"</p><p>Marcus went for their coats. "Definitely."</p><p>Before they could leave through the front door of the apartment, Bella crossed the foyer and caught Caius' wrist. Meeting his surprised, weary gaze with a slow, nervous smile of her own, she rose to her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss right at the edge of his mouth. A cool breath left him.</p><p>"Thank you for last night. It was heavenly," Bella whispered earnestly.</p><p>His gaze sent wondrous flutters down her stomach. Shrouded in fiery ice, nearly reverent. "No problem." Caius cleared his throat and wound their hands together. "Let's get breakfast."</p><p>Bella's cheeks flushed pink. She nodded.</p><p>"Let's."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>"So how did you even know which pub I was in?"</p><p>Setting his espresso cup down, Aro didn't even blink. "Alice."</p><p>Oh. "And what happened with Jake?"</p><p>Marcus' brows pushed together. "Who's Jake?"</p><p>Aro waved a dismissive hand. "Unimportant." <em>He'll never show his face again if he knows what's good for him. </em>"On the matter of Alice…"</p><p>Bella paused, bagel halfway into her mouth. "Yes?"</p><p>"Would you like to meet her stepfather?"</p><p>"You mean Carlisle?"</p><p>"Yes. And Esme." Aro propped his chin on a palm. Caius tensed on the seat next to him. "I hear she's very nice."</p><p>"Sure, I think Alice mentioned they'd be back by 31st or so…" Bella sifted through her phone messages and blinked up in surprise. "Who's free today?"</p><p>"I guess… all of us?" They looked at her curiously. "Why?"</p><p>With an oddly mischievous grin, Bella stated: "I have a gig. Who wants to help?"</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Leah started gushing as soon as Bella walked through the double doors. "Bella! Thank you <em>so</em> much for coming on such a short notice! I honestly didn't know who else to call – Angela and I have been planning this for months, I know, but the timing just felt so perfect so we decided—"</p><p>"—to get married and get it over with when we woke up this morning. A few friends and family, a small hall to celebrate, stories and laughter. That's all we really need." Angela finished, so much love and adoration in her tone as she locked gazes with her now-wife. "People will start arriving in an hour. Quil and Embry are in-charge of the program, and I think you have an hour and a half to prepare. How many people do you need to set up?" Angela inquired with a wince.</p><p>"Don't worry about it," Bella grinned, gesturing her thumb back to the trio of men who had walked through the entrance. "I brought some help with me."</p><p>"Thank Christ!" Quil hissed from where he was installing the sound system. "Do you know how many tables we still need to set up?"</p><p>"Nobody does a year-end shotgun wedding in this family <em>ever</em> again!" Seth whined from where he was setting the bridal table. "You're lucky we love you, Leah!"</p><p>Aro, Caius, and Marcus exchanged wary glances from where they stood. Bella laughed at their shared expressions of bewilderment before she started pushing them towards the reception hall. "Caius, Marcus, help set up the guest tables and cutlery. I'll start setting up the mic. And make yourself useful, will you?" She poked Aro in the chest before going. "Move the piano to the side of the dance floor, yes?"</p><p>Leah and Angela smirked at the three as Bella went over to Seth and Quil and started fussing along with them. Leah cleared her throat. "So. How'd you know Bella?"</p><p>"Housemate," Caius muttered at the same time Aro said, "She's ours."</p><p>Angela whistled low. <em>Atta Bella.</em> "But you've never heard her sing, huh?"</p><p>They shook their heads. Leah grinned.</p><p>"Angie and I, we met at the bar Bella sings at. She was the one performing the night we fell in love." Leah paused, throwing a glance at her wristwatch. "Although… as much as I want to reminisce, chop chop. Bride's word is law. Make my wedding reception happen."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Two hours later.<em>"Singing for Mrs. and Mrs. Clearwaters' first dance, please welcome: Bella Swan…"</em></p><p>Caius huffed from the sidelines, dusting off the soot from his hands with obvious disdain. "She had better be good."</p><p>Aro had opened his mouth to retort, but then the lights dimmed, and a quiet hush fell over the audience. Following their gazes, Aro swallowed thickly. Marcus' eyes shuttered.</p><p>Dressed in deep, sensual, curve-fitting crimson, brown hair tumbling over her back and shoulders in luscious waves as she made her way to where she would croon for the brides under their spotlight, Bella guided the slow string music that began to fill the hall with a serenading hum. And as if she hadn't looked ethereal enough, overwhelming her lovers' senses with the spectacle of her angelic grace, began to sing.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>
  <em>I was a quick, wet boy, diving too deep for coins<br/>All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys<br/>Then when the cops closed the fair<br/>I cut my long baby hair<br/>Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Have I found you<br/>Flightless bird<br/>Jealous<br/>Weeping<br/>Or lost you<br/>American mouth<br/>Big pill looming</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Now I'm a fat house cat<br/>Nursing my sore blunt tongue<br/>Watching the warm poison rats<br/>Curl through the wide fence cracks<br/>Pissing on magazine photos<br/>Those fishing lures thrown in the cold<br/>And clean blood of Christ mountain stream</em>
</p><p><em>Have I found you<br/></em> <em>Flightless bird<br/></em> <em>Grounded<br/>Bleeding<br/></em> <em>Or lost you<br/></em> <em>American mouth<br/></em> <em>Big pill stuck<br/></em> <em>Going down<br/></em> <em>American mouth</em></p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>After her performance, Bella marched up to her partners waiting at the lobby, ready to leave. "So? How was it?"</p><p>"Adequate," Caius managed to say. She beamed at him and turned to Aro.</p><p>"You have a beautiful voice, Bella." Aro replied evenly.</p><p>She turned to Marcus and made a face. Hooking back her thumb to the two, she asked him, "What's wrong with them?"</p><p>Marcus snorted. "Last night you said you didn't know how to seduce so they talked big. With what we just watched, who are we kidding? None of us ever stood a chance." <em>Not against you.</em> Pulling her to his chest as they made their way to the parking lot, "You can just call them Dumb &amp; Dumber."</p><p>Bella threw her head back and laughed.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Clutching her favorite pillow to her chest as she padded barefoot down the hallway, Bella reached the master bedroom and peered in innocently, "Is there still space for me?"</p><p>Aro looked up from where he was leaned against the bed headboard, mildly surprised. "Of course." He patted the empty space beside him as she made her way inside. Aro answered her silent question as she settled under the sheets with a smirk, "They're still taking a bath."</p><p>Bella's face burned. "Oh."</p><p>Aro hummed, recapping his fountain pen and putting away his journal on the nightstand with unusual promptitude, before turning back to deem her with a cool gaze. "<em>This</em> is what you wear to bed?" He sounded unimpressed.</p><p>Wrinkling her nose, defensive, "There's nothing wrong with my duck pajamas. Back off."</p><p>Aro chuckled low, palms out in mock surrender, "So you say."</p><p>Bella stuck her lower lip out in a pout, but quickly pacified when Aro's arm went behind her and guided her head to rest on his shoulder. Her eyes shuttered as she inhaled the storm, heavy bergamot scent of him. Shameless, she nuzzled her nose deeper into his shirt and clung to his side with a low moan. "Smell so good," she mumbled against him.</p><p>"Should be saying that to you." Aro's lips murmured against her hair. "Are you tired?"</p><p>"A bit," Bella confessed. After arriving home, she'd spent the first half of the night encoding the final term grades for Amun's classes, and performing earlier that day had worn her out more than she liked to admit. Lifting her fingers to caress his cheek, then peering up at him through dark lashes, she sent him a languid, sultry smile. "But I'm down for a kiss or two."</p><p>"And I am at your service."</p><p>The touch of his lips descending onto her waiting mouth was something like finding immortality; a greeting of eternal rest after bargaining with the cold-hearted devil, flitting on the surface of her soul at first, then devouring her insides like wildfire. She welcomed his proving tongue and grazed her own against the roof of his mouth, shuddering at the sharp tip of his fangs, enticed by the traitorous taste and feel of him, coaxing whimpers from the back of her throat, just as she caused the satisfied rumbling coming from his chest when her hands roamed and tugged on his hair. His mouth devoured her like dark velvet on a summer night, like warm blood to a starving winter beast. His fingers trailing the shape of her, pulling, pinching, stroking, ignited a heated path of treacherous want leading to deep within her core, a wordless incantation of his wicked plan to consume her. Submissively, she tipped her face to let him have her soul. She would let him have it. Everything, everything he wanted from her, just so she could soothe her own buried, thirsty ache.</p><p>"I see how it is." Aro and Bella may have pulled apart at the dry drawl of Marcus' voice, but their heavy-lidded gazes were still pinned on each other, warm breaths traded between their mouths in small puffs. "I was wondering how long you two were going to make out like that before you realized you weren't alone."</p><p>Caius smirked as he slid under the covers after Marcus. "By all means, continue. Don't mind us."</p><p>Bella surveyed Caius' neck with a knowing look. Those red marks all over his neck and shoulders… She would wage good money there were more down his back. She giggled. Fluttering her eyelashes at Marcus innocently, "It was my good night kiss."</p><p>"Mm-hm. Now it's time for mine."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Two days later, a few hours after lunch as Bella and Marcus left to buy ingredients for their New Year's charcuterie board, the doorbell to the top-floor apartment loft rang. Aro left his book on the coffee table and attended to the door.</p><p>"We apologize sir, there was a mishap at our fulfilment warehouse from the holiday parcel traffic, but… we have a deferred delivery for Miss Isabella Swan?"</p><p>"Ah. Delivered only two weeks late." Aro murmured as the delivery man squirmed under his gaze. "I hear this is an improvement."</p><p>Caius barely looked up from the sofa. "She just went out."</p><p>"Well," Aro took a pen. "I can sign for her."</p><p>The doors closed a minute later, followed by the sound of rustling plastic.</p><p>Aro snickered heavily as he inspected the box and read aloud, "Natural feel. Powerful vibration. The best night of your life."</p><p>Caius choked on his own spit and ambled his way to the foyer. A few flashes from his phone camera and some thundering guffaws as they sent the picture of the product to its intended recipient.</p><p>Almost instantly, Aro's phone started ringing. He answered not a second later, smartly holding the gadget well away from his ears.</p><p>A horrible cry and not at all ladylike: "<em>Aro, don't you </em><em><strong>dare</strong></em><em> open the package, you fucker!" </em>Hysterical heaving sounds.<em> "I cannot </em><em><strong>fucking </strong></em><em><strong>believe</strong></em><em> this—!"</em></p><p>"You virgin idiot." Aro said dryly into the receiver. "This is not even enough to prepare you for what happens tonight."</p><p>Caius dissolved into the same riotous laughter Marcus lost himself in as Bella's soul transcended and expired in the middle of the busy uptown street.</p><hr/><p><strong>Notes</strong>:</p><p>A very fluffy chapter. I didn't really have to go off like that, but I did. I really did. You are welcome.</p><p>A charcuterie board is basically a meat and cheese board paired with red/white wine and other fancy stuff for fancy celebrations. You can add fruits and nuts and biscuits, whatever finger food you like.</p><p>A few songs I had to choose between as Bella's birdsong were Sara Bareilles' <em>Gravity</em>, Daniel Caesar's <em>Best Part</em>, and even Taylor Swift's <em>Lover</em>. Alice Kristiansen's version of <em>Flightless Bird, American Mouth</em> won, ultimately because this is a Twilight fanfic, and no matter how hard I think about it – Alice's slow, simple, haunting rendition is overall a perfect song to fall in love to. You can listen to it on Youtube.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Dedicated to Fairly Average, Steffie, JJ, newptune, and duonyte. </strong>May this chapter satiate your starving need for drama, mutual pining, physical intimacy, and happy endings. If anybody asks, Casual Vacancy was finished two years early because you all loved it so much to make memes and art and hot takes about it. I freaking love all of you.</p><hr/><p>
  <span class="u"> <em>Part Six</em> </span>
</p><p>"Hello Bella. Happy new year," Carlisle's angelic smile nearly blinded her when she opened the door.</p><p>Dark blond in business casual, Alice's stepfather could easily impersonate a Guess model archetype if he wanted to. Next to him, Esme waved shyly in a chic day dress. "Hope we're not too early?"</p><p>"Not at all."</p><p>Bella stepped aside to lead them to the living room (not that they'd ever get lost, they were quite familiar with the place).</p><p>"The Cullens have arrived," she announced to her housemates with flourish.</p><p>Aro humored her antics with a, "Go at once and prepare the feast," as he gestured to the dining area. Like she was an attending chambermaid.</p><p>With a halfhearted glare, "Now listen here, you little…"</p><p>Carlisle laughed under his breath as he seated himself on one of the free armchairs. While the males effortlessly shifted into casual conversation, Esme hesitated and offered to Bella, "Do you need help with anything? I'm a decent cook."</p><p>"Yes, that's so kind, thank you. At least <em>someone else</em> here has basic survival skills," Bella muttered jokingly, guiding Esme to the direction of the kitchens. Marcus made a ribbing face at her as they went. "I'm hoping the beef wellington comes out good." Or else she was calling Domino's. "It's my first time cooking it."</p><p>Esme nodded along politely. "Do you need help with the duxelles?"</p><p>"They're done, so's the beef." Bella grinned. "But I still need help with the baking and the pastry..."</p><p>There was an endearingly determined expression on Esme's face. "Of course. I've got you covered."</p><p>When they reached the kitchen counters, Bella laid out all the ingredients she'd prepared. She then plucked a spare apron hanging from the side of the fridge and handed it over to Esme.</p><p>"Alice said she'll try to drop by after her date with Jasper," Esme started conversationally as she donned the apron and tied it behind her back. "Do you know Jasper?"</p><p>Bella waved a hand back and forth. "A bit. Alice told me he's a university athlete."</p><p>"He seems like a good kid. Said he's trying to qualify for the Olympics…"</p><p>"Mm, I see." In the following silence, Bella counted to ten in her head before brazenly going, "So what's the deal?"</p><p>Esme paused and blinked at her. "Deal?"</p><p>Pretending to multitask, distracted between preparing the oven, the toppings, and conversing with the older woman all at the same time, Bella clarified, "Between Caius and Carlisle, I mean. Spill."</p><p>Esme's eyes quickly darted from her to the living room. Bella threw the interior designer a pointed look. "Don't worry, they're too invested in megacorp talk to even hear."</p><p>Eventually, Esme gave in. "It's not a pretty story," she warned.</p><p><em>Oh, I'll bet</em>. Carlisle couldn't even look at Caius without wincing<em>.</em> "Mm-hmm?"</p><p>"Carlisle wasn't very… open-minded… before." Esme said carefully, inspecting the ingredients in front of her. "It was originally just Aro and Caius, you know. They all met at boarding school when they were younger, and after that Carlisle worked with them, many years before Marcus even entered the picture."</p><p>Of <em>all</em> the people this could have been possibly been about? "<em>Marcus?</em>" Bella hissed low in disbelief. "Never-says-anything, never-does-anything Marcus? Seriously? The guy's a saint."</p><p>Esme winced. "Well, Marcus came into their lives a bit… broken. He was in mourning. Very dependent. Carlisle didn't react too well when he came back from our engagement trip and found out that Aro and Caius had taken him in – not just into the apartment, but also into their, uh, what do you call it again? The group-couple thing?" Esme's face scrunched up. "We already Googled this to educate ourselves, hold on…"</p><p>Bella struggled not to laugh at the odd expression on the older woman's face as she scoured her brain for the term.</p><p>"Oh! Polycule! Yes, that. Carlisle said something along the lines of how polyamorous relationships were… frowned upon. Unstable. Then Caius pointed out that <em>I</em> was recently divorced, and that I had baggage, too, in the form of Alice. So," Esme finished with a lame shrug. "Not a pretty story at all."</p><p><em>Very yikes</em>. "A messy falling-out then," Bella hinged.</p><p>"The way I see it? Of course." Esme blew some wayward fringes away from her eyes as she expertly kneaded the dough. "Carlisle didn't want to leave this house without assurance that Marcus wasn't just… playing them. But us ourselves – Carlisle and I – it didn't take long for us to get together either, you know? I had to explain to him that hounding Marcus was a bit pot-calling-the-kettle-black." Esme narrated amicably. "Just as Carlisle didn't trust Marcus, Caius didn't trust me. And then the confrontation happened." Esme methodically folded the beef in puff pastry dough, tied it with twine, painted it with egg wash, then dusted her hands off, blasé. Bella was very impressed at how easy she'd made it seem. "But look at us. We're all still together, aren't we?"</p><p>Bella nodded along as she placed the wellington in an oven dish and decorated it with the duxelles she'd prepared earlier. "Sometimes love just happens. Different forms, different people. Nothing you can do about it," Bella murmured smoothly, eyeing at Esme's wedding ring. Esme made a short hum of agreement. "So when <em>did</em> Marcus get into the picture?"</p><p>Esme thought about it. "Hmm. Just a year before you arrived, I think? Long ago enough to let some bygones be, fresh enough to still be awkward about it."</p><p>Bella snickered. "I wonder how Carlisle reacted when he heard about <em>me.</em>"</p><p>Esme waved a flippant hand in front of her face, "Not like that at all. Carlisle was so thankful about what happened with the four of you that he attended Sunday mass for, like, three straight months."</p><p>Bella choked. "<em>What?</em>"</p><p>Esme's laugh had a maternal sound to it. "In the aftermath of their argument, Carlisle left, despite knowing all three of them didn't know how to fend for themselves. He'd assumed they'd live off takeout once he'd gone – then Aro told him just as much at one of the board meetings." Esme took a quick breath and continued, "So when Alice mentioned you were looking for a place, he just… jumped at the opportunity to ease the guilt eating up at him." Esme winked. "Thanks for that, by the way."</p><p>Bella pulled a face. "So I'm like some sacrificial lamb to you guys, huh?"</p><p>"And yet you stayed. Ha! What a stupid, masochistic lamb."</p><p>"Wha– <em>hey!</em>" Bella put on a faux affronted look, but she was sure Alice's mother had seen the mirth dancing behind her eyes, as the older woman's giggles turned into louder guffaws. "You better pray this cooks well."</p><p>"Everything'll turn out fine," Esme assured her as she set it into the oven, deeming Bella with an obliging grin. "Just give it time."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>"I know what you were trying to do."</p><p>Bella jumped as soon as she closed the front door. Turning around with a nervous chuckle, "Can't possibly know what you mean?"</p><p>Marcus exhaled through his nose. "You made me explain the principle of deconstructivism. In the middle of dinner. To Esme." His arms crossed over his chest, "She's an <em>interior designer.</em>"</p><p>Bella's shoulders hunched. "Fine." <em>Guilty as charged.</em> A quick breath, "But it worked! You can't deny it got you two talking. And dinner went smoothly! Carlisle and Caius were laughing like old friends again by the end." She sounded very pleased with herself.</p><p>Squinting at her distrustfully, "You're just as scheming as Aro."</p><p>"Only sometimes," Bella said. "He's still the worst."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Sitting on the piano bench, looking past the penthouse glass windows to marvel at the still Volterran nightlife, Bella wondered if the universe had ever conspired to give love to the undeserving.</p><p>But no matter how long she thought about it, no matter the fracture in her bones as she grieved her own smoky flaws and imperfections, the warm silhouette of buildings amongst streetlights in the pale distance embraced her heartache and the answer remained the same.</p><p>
  <em>No.</em>
</p><p>With a quiet mind and an uneven heart, she padded down the hallways and headed for her bedroom.</p><p>"Bella?" Aro reached out for her when she passed him. "Not staying with us tonight?"</p><p>"I'll be right there," she heard herself saying. "Just a minute."</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>She walks into the master bedroom dressed in a champagne silk chemise. Her fussy fingers play with the edge of the slip's dark lace trimmings, and the bare shape of her paints a picture of soft innocence in the warm bedroom light.</p><p>Aro imagined he might have finally lost his mind. A hallucination of Persephone, poised and waiting, standing timidly by the floor of his bed. <em>Mine.</em></p><p>"I was thinking we could play a game to… know each other better," Bella said slowly, meeting their heated gazes then diverting her eyes to where her toes traced lazy circles on the plush rug. "We lay down questions for each other and have to answer honestly. Anyone who refuses to answer…" she swallowed. "Has to take a piece of clothing off."</p><p>Aro licked his lips. "You'll be at a disadvantage," he said. "I can see your nipples are already hard from where I'm sitting, baby."</p><p>Bella blushed scarlet. "It's an incentive," she whispered, almost to herself. <em>For me to be honest</em>. "For you three to play the game seriously. Well?"</p><p>Aro rose from the bed and followed her example, sitting on the carpeted floor across from her with a wink. He looked to the other two.</p><p>Caius transferred his position to the edge of the bed and smirked, "Strip interrogation. I like it."</p><p>"I'll join." From his place on the armchair, Marcus set his book down. "To the victor goes the spoils, gentlemen."</p><p>"Perhaps I should start." Aro smiled at Bella. "What's your favorite color?"</p><p>She looked at him funny. "I like purple," she answered easily. "If you keep up with questions like that you'll be wasting your turn." She cleared her throat and asked, "How many men and women have you been with?"</p><p>A wicked grin broke out on his face. "I had been with five women – separately – before meeting Caius and Marcus and you."</p><p>"That's… surprisingly monogamous of you," Bella blinked back in surprise. She'd assumed he kept all his past relationships open.</p><p>"I only belonged to a triad because I met them," Aro said honestly. "And now a quartet. If it weren't you three, I would never have entertained the idea of sharing." He was a selfish, self-serving curator, and all of them knew it.</p><p>Possessive bastard.</p><p>Judging from the gleam in his eyes, Caius had the same idea as her and asked first, "How did you get yourself all those years, being a virgin?"</p><p>"…" Bella squirmed. "…I… didn't…"</p><p>Caius' back straightened. "What? So does that mean—"</p><p>"One question <em>only,</em>" Marcus snapped. Aro laughed under his breath.</p><p>"No, it's fine. I'll admit it," Bella waved a careless hand. "Caius was the first to touch me… that way. I've never… yeah." She refused to meet his gaze. "How many women have slept with you?"</p><p>Caius didn't even let two seconds pass before he removed his top. Bella's cheeks darkened.</p><p>Too many to say, then.</p><p>"Caius was – in some form or another – everyone's sexual awakening back in boarding school," Aro reminisced. "Sometimes he reciprocated enough to take them back to bed. <em>That's</em> how we met."</p><p>A laugh threatened to spill from the brunette's lips, "Seeing him play lacrosse warmed up your blood, hmm?"</p><p>"I never kiss and tell."</p><p>"Doubtful," muttered Caius. He was lounging in his sweatpants only now.</p><p>Bella turned to Marcus. Marcus looked back at her. They knew so many things about each other now – borne from class camaraderie, philosophical debates, and late night reading companionships, but what Bella really wanted to know was: "Do you really think I could make you happy?" She shook her head marginally, "Do you even really want to be with me?"</p><p>Marcus' expression went slack. "What?"</p><p>She smiled wryly, "Is that your question? What?"</p><p>He gnarled at her, "You think I'm not serious? You think the image of you right now doesn't have me pulling at the little scraps of restraints I have left?" He sighed sharply. "I want you. Every fucking inch. Now – explain why you had to ask me that. Why?"</p><p>"I…" Bella hesitated, fingers clutching at the hem of her dress. She could pull it off and no questions would be asked. But… she wanted this opportunity to be honest with them. To be brave.</p><p>To make sure they were falling for the person she was.</p><p>Dropping her clutched hold on the flimsy fabric of nightdress, she confessed, "I'm scared that I can't bring anything to the relationship. That one by one you'll start to realize that, too."</p><p>Her answer noticeably alleviated the tenseness on Marcus' form. It looked like he wanted to say something else, but then Aro intervened, "Hmm. My turn again." Aro took her attention with a single, simpering look through dark lashes, "Given your answer to Caius' question. Where did <em>you</em> find your sexual awakening? Videos?"</p><p>Bella chuckled nervously. "I have some… books. You won't believe how detailed pocketbooks are nowadays," she muttered. "As I grew up, friends who were open to share their stories with me… were kind enough to answer some questions I had, if any." She bit her lip and gnawed on her lip as she pondered, "Now that I think about it, I was brought up really conservative." But she wasn't. Not anymore. Not since she moved into Mt. Olympus, at least.</p><p>Aro hummed again. Bella cleared her head with a shake.</p><p>She had to be smart about this one. "Do you practice… certain kinks and positions in bed?"</p><p>"Wouldn't you like to know?" Aro smirked. Rather than answering directly, he jutted his chin to the topmost drawer of the endtable behind Bella. She pulled it out and peered in, before her eyes went wide and her jaw slack. "Nothing compared to your little toy, miss Swan." Aro said, smug. "And I'll have my fun teaching you about each one." He held her gaze firmly. "Is that alright?"</p><p>Her voice so quiet, "Yes. I think so."</p><p>Bella moved back to Caius. She grinned at him.</p><p>"If I ask nicely. Will you take your sweatpants off?"</p><p>Caius tilted his head to the side before chuckling. He stood from the bed and smoothly removed his pants. He had black boxers on, and a split second wasn't enough for Bella to observe <em>that</em> part of him—</p><p>"If <em>I</em> ask nicely. Will you take your panties off?"</p><p>Bella's gaze snapped back to his face. She balked at him. "Panties? Not my—"</p><p>"I know what I asked."</p><p>"So much for rules," Marcus uttered from where he sat.</p><p>Steeling her nerves, Bella stood from the floor and hooked her thumbs under her slip. She knew all eyes were on trained on her as she slowly pushed down the cotton panties down her legs. Stepping out of it, she went back to sit on the floor. Caius adjusted the way he sat.</p><p>"I'm beginning to see why Aro said the mechanics of the game would be unfair to me," Bella grumbled. "It's three against one."</p><p>"You can always back out," said Marcus. "We could make it worth it."</p><p><em>Damn. </em>A hot flush travelled down her belly.</p><p>"How about you," Marcus changed the topic, trying to ease the tension in the room, an attempt to distract himself. "Do you have… certain parts about us that you like?"</p><p>Her cheeks dusted pink. She was becoming so many colors tonight. "Are you asking me what I like about each of you."</p><p>Marcus' eyes softened. "We're arrogant bastards in our own way but we treat each other right. I'm just checking to see if you see us for who we are in the first place."</p><p>"I do," Bella answered fast, her eyes bright. "I know you."</p><p>She pinned her gaze on Marcus. "I know you cry when you sleep. Not all the time, but enough for me to know that there's a darkness in you that I can't cure. I know it's presumptuous, but when the first thing your eyes and fingers look for in the morning is me, I—" Bella's voice wavered. "I feel like I mean to you just as much as you mean to me." She knew him so much it was surreal. "And I want that for the rest of my life."</p><p>She turned to Caius. "It doesn't even matter that you're an asshole," she laughed softly under her breath. "You're charming enough at night. You can spend all morning yelling at executives over the phone, complain about how nothing's ever done right, bring home all the scowls and grumbles and I'd still be here. I'll try to cook Grecian meals as much as I can. Just so you know that this little world we have here…" she held his gaze. "It's home for me, too."</p><p>Bella focused on Aro when she was able to control the glassy veneer staining her eyes. He sent her a small, encouraging smile, and her lips wobbled, struggling to send one back for him. "And you. You've always been the giver. I can tell. The way you won't leave Marcus alone until he's comfortable with a book. Or Caius when he's having a rough time and won't ask for help. You'll try to brew his coffee for him, even though he'd tell you you'd done it all wrong. It's not about the book or the coffee when it comes to you." Bella searched his face for flaws and found none. "And I don't say anything, but when you ask me about how my classes are going, if my mom's okay, if I need a hand around the house – I know it's your way of trying to see if I need you. But Aro… you don't have to do anything. You don't have to give me anything. No more," she told him sincerely. "All I ask is that you love me kindly."</p><p>A minute of silence passed. Bella felt like her heart had gotten lost and lodged in her throat.</p><p>"Come here." Marcus stood from the upholstered chair and extended an arm to her, helping her stand before leading her to the bed where she crawled into his lap. Laying against his chest, he held her head under his chin and wrapped his arm tightly around her. "Thank you for being honest." He kissed the top of her head. "And loving." An intake of breath, "You're perfect as you are."</p><p>"With your sleeptalking, clumsy, easily riled up, sometimes melodramatic, oddball nonsense," Caius furthered. "You're perfect." <em>Mine.</em> "Ours."</p><p>"We'll have the rest of our lives to know more," Aro promised as he made his way to her and Marcus. "Tonight let us take care of <em>you.</em>" His mouth found the edge of her shoulder to press a fleeting kiss, "Let us make you feel good."</p><p>Marcus' calloused hand suddenly trailed down, past the low of her back then to the front of her hips. She writhed on his lap when his hand found her sex, cupped, and a long finger slipped through her folds. Bella moaned his name.</p><p>The bed dipped all over as they moved. Cool hands found her ankles and pried her legs open. Her body flamed and shuddered, quivering at the gentle blow of air at her core.</p><p>While Marcus kept stroking her, languid, testing and stimulating how soaked she was, Caius trailed kisses from the side of her feet, up to the insides of her legs like soft, wordless worship. Marcus devours each mewl coming from her mouth. She lets out a groan of displeasure when his fingers withdraw from her, but his digit finds a tight, sensitive peak and starts flickering not long after that her eyes roll right back.</p><p>From peppering the skin of her thighs with pious kisses, Caius' mouth finds itself pushing past her folds and fleshing his tongue out for a long, solid taste. At that instant, Bella sees sweet, velvet heaven. <em>Oh gods.</em> She thrashed her head at the sensation, and suddenly Aro's hand catches her mouth into another liplock. They part for a second, only for Marcus to lift her arms and slip the thin chemise off her figure in one swift tug.</p><p>They didn't even give her a chance to be modest. Marcus removed his shirt and trousers quickly. As Aro worked on her left breast and singled her attention with his roving mouth's efforts, his palms kneading, pulling, tweaking… Caius continued his ministrations on her sex; attached, lapping at the flesh of her, desperate and ravenous as her cream glided on his tongue like sweet venom<em>. </em>Bella's senses were overloaded, surely she would burst soon, too much feel and kiss and lick and bliss for her to even recognize the twined scent of all their heady arousal filling the room, her unbidden gasps escaping roughly from her throat echoing off the bedroom walls. <em>Hngh, ah… Please…</em></p><p>Like a rush of seasons, nature snapped the tight coil wound deep in her belly. Her toes curled as she came, begged her lovers for complete release, and all strength left her. She blinked hazily as the tides of pleasure evened out, Caius' hot breath still fanning the inside of her thighs, and suddenly she was laid flat in the middle of bed. She pried her eyes open, only to find Caius and Aro on the other side of mattress, engaged in hot, heavy liplock. The sight of them devouring each other, hungry like predators spurred her carnal wanton, igniting the burning coil inside her again, but it was Marcus' husky voice next to her ear that sent ghost shivers all over her skin.</p><p>"I'll take my time with you." His words held dark promise. "You're already so wet for me."</p><p>Her back to his chest, textured hands parting her legs open, Marcus entered her from behind and whispered sweet nothings as he twiddled and played with the hard peaks on the swells of her chest, pulling at her supple breasts to elicit her moans, drawing out her pleasure. <em>Mine.</em></p><p>Bella had never felt so full in her life. So light. So, so, so <em>good.</em> <em>This</em> was Marcus. The way he flooded each inch of her with his presence. Like he knew her. Owned her. Inside out. Not even an ounce of uneasiness – the length of him inside her was dark grace finding home. He moved against her, tender and slow at first, before increasing his pace as he started to hit a spot inside her that had her seeing stars and praying. On impulse, her hips bore down in response to each powerful thrust, and when Marcus' breath started to labor at the shell of her ear, Bella nearly went insane as his fingers traveled down to find her clit again. His sex in her sex, his hands all over her chest and flesh, his body writhing against hers, sweaty, vocal, urging their rhythm to transition into a wicked, unforgiving pace as they chased the elusive apex of life. "I'm going to come inside you," he rasped in her ear. Bella whimpered. When the fingers twiddling at her nipples and the finger pressing on her clit pinched, down and hard at the same time, he growled, "Now be a good girl and come," she instantly saw white.</p><p>"<em>Uuunnnh!</em>" This was why people got addicted to sex. Why people begged for sex. She'd never get enough. "Oh god, <em>Marcus!</em>"</p><p>"You're killing me," he still kept pumping inside her as her muscles quivered all over him. "You're so fucking <em>tight.</em>" He groaned and swore, spilling his seed inside of her, "<em>Bella, fuck!</em>"</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>Caius wakes her up sometime at dawn. She feels his hands caressing the slopes of her bare stomach, patting and petting the shape of her backside before tickling right up to her breasts. She catches his hands and his eye.</p><p>"I woke up wanting you," was all he said. Bella's lips parted. Words lodged in her throat, all she could do was nod.</p><p>He makes her straddle him. Her knees push down into the bed. He smirks at the drenched wetness all over her sex. He knew she'd fallen asleep and dreamt of him, wanting him, too.</p><p>His prodding tip and wide girth push past her folds when she descends on him. His hands settle at each side of her hips, urging her to move against him, use him for her own gratification as she chased each stroke that sent her keening.</p><p>One of his hands moved upwards and molded the shape of her breasts, while the other trailed down and rested on the curve of her ass. Each rough rub and teasing pull of his hands as she rode him wound her tighter, thicker, crazier… But when Caius' hand rose to thread her long hair between his fingers, before tugging and yanking her head back at the same time his free palm started to smack her ass hard, Bella's lids squeezed shut. Hot liquid coated her slick, and she lost herself against Caius with a guttural, sobbing cry.</p><p>»»—- ❈ —-««</p><p>As she caught up with her breathing, spent… "Did you think you were done?"</p><p>Bella nearly leapt at the low sound of Aro's drawl in the dark. His body moved above her and caged her under, needy hands busily memorizing and roaming her bare, flushed body… Aro's knee nudged her legs open.</p><p>"I know you're tired, baby, but it's my turn…" He wound his arms under her head and pressed the side of her face against his wet mouth, whispering hotly in her ear, "This is my greedy fuck."</p><p>Aro sheathes himself into her with one strong push. She was still so embarrassingly wet and full, and still she stretched for him. She groans rough for him, singing his name in the shadows, skin ablaze with want as her body opened itself up to him more, her chest arching into his strong figure as he went on and on, in and out, a relentless, pounding, torturous rhythm. His arms secured her to him so she wouldn't jostle, and true enough if he weren't holding her to him she would. His pace was forceful, merciless, fast, slapping, and so very greedy that she gripped him right back. When her legs moved on instinct and wrapped around his hips, Aro started gliding against a rough patch that sent her waves and snippets of the tidal bliss that was to come.</p><p>By the time he started talking dirty in her ear, she didn't even know what her name was and fuck it all if she didn't care. She was too far gone.</p><p>»»—-❈ —-««</p><p>Aro's eyes shot open in surprise. With the room curtains still closed, barely seeing clear in the absence of morning daylight, he moaned low at the unmistakable feel of Marcus' lips, leaving bitemarks then lapping at the abused spots he'd endeavored to leave all over his neck, his shoulders…</p><p>Caius' hands stroking him the sides of him, murmuring sinful promises in his ear as he roused awake…</p><p>"What are you—"</p><p>Under the covers, full lips suddenly wrapped around his cock. A small tongue worked at his head; curious, sloppy, wet…</p><p>He'd know those lips anywhere. <em>Shit…</em> "Bella?"</p><p>The mouth around his cock hummed in greeting. Aro's eyes rolled back into his head. <em>Sweet jesus fuck.</em></p><p>Life was so fucking good.</p><p>»»—-❈ —-««</p><p>Breakfast in bed was such a wonderful thing when Bella was the one to instigate it. Empty coffee cups piled on the nightstand, traces of powdered sugar and whipped cream on skin, soft laughter, hushed whispers as they laid tangled under the sheets, hands petting her hair…</p><p>"Not to be demanding, but when are we going to get married."</p><p>Bella choked on Marcus. Her eyes slanted as she looked up and glared at Aro.</p><p>"Isn't polygamy illegal?" Marcus asked dryly. Bella hummed in agreement. Marcus groaned.</p><p>Caius smirked. "A minor inconvenience, that."</p><p>Snickering, Aro continued, "I can have that fixed by next week. Is that all?"</p><p>Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she pulled away, Bella met their gazes straight back and hissed hotly, "You know, you two should work on your proposal skills."</p><p>"Ah, you're going to be an expensive woman. I should have known."</p><p>"You know what? I should move out."</p><p>Aro gathered her up into his arms and murmured, "Fine. We'll take you to a remote isle—" which he may or may not own, "—as soon as this weekend."</p><p>Bella shrugged her shoulders loosely as if to say she was unimpressed. Caius' pointed look urged Aro to go on, "We'll read to you and revere you and romance you. I'll even tell you I've named the isle after you. Then you'll pretend to be awed at how dashing we look when we're kneeling for your hand." Bella bit her lower lip to prevent a laugh from spilling. Aro held her chin and whispered against her mouth, "All you have to do is say yes."</p><p><em>Yes.</em> "That <em>does</em> sound tempting," she allowed herself to say. "But everyone has to promise me one thing. One tiny, weeny, little thing," she hinged.</p><p>"Anything," Caius told her.</p><p>"For you, a tiny promise?" Marcus smiled. "Done."</p><p>She held Aro's gaze. He nodded.</p><p>"Promise me you won't joke about my delivery ever again. <em>Never again.</em>"</p><p>Booming, barking, blasted laughter all over the room.</p><p>"Now that's asking for too much…"</p><p>"Maybe let's just date for a few years after all…"</p><p>"Anything," Caius managed to say in sputters. "<em>Except</em> that."</p><p>Bella tried hard to maintain the pretend rage in her features, but at the irresistible image of the loves of her life, eyes alight and happy and smiling; the feeling of joy so tightly strung in her chest, she eventually lost control and threw her head back as she laughed right along with them.</p><p>
  <em>Mine.</em>
</p><hr/><p>Notes:</p><p>Duxelles are garnishes/side dishes consisting of mushrooms, herbs, and/or shallots.</p><p>Deconstructivism is a philosophical artistic movement and/or postmodern principle of architecture, commonly characterized by an absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry. It criticizes the rational order, purity, and simplicity of modern design and developed a new aesthetic based on complex geometries. Wild stuff, google some examples.</p><p>Special shout-out to <strong>itisyaboiJJ</strong> for giving me <a href="https://osorvei.tumblr.com/post/640901277378854912/yeahhhhh-hello-if-you-are-from-my-other">the first fanart I have ever received in my life. He drew Bella, Aro, Marcus, and Caius!</a> How lovely and <strong>absolutely amazing </strong>is that! Thank you JJ! <strong><br/></strong></p><p>I also made a photomontage of how I envisioned the <a href="https://eserethriddle.tumblr.com/post/640901672512684032/welcome-to-casual-vacancy-the-volturi-boarding">Volturi Boarding House to be!</a> Please check it out!</p><p>So – we have one more part to go, which is the epilogue. I am so happy to have shared this story with all of you. See you in the final.</p><p>
  <strong>Version 21 Jan 2021</strong>
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  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Epilogue </em>
</p><p>
  <em>One Year Later</em>
</p><p>"Let's move onto the last question."</p><p>"Of course, Mr. Volturi." The reporter turned to the following page of his notebook. "Well, we hear congratulations are in order for your recent nuptials."</p><p>A tense stillness befell the entire conference room. Caius' eyes narrowed very slightly, "Where did you hear that?"</p><p>"<em>James, you idiot,</em>" an orange-haired journalist hissed next to him. "<em>He doesn't appreciate personal questions.</em>"</p><p>But the reporter braved on. <em>Vicky, this is our chance for the big headlines! </em>"Perhaps you can confirm for us the identity of your spouse—"</p><p>The chief executive cut through his sentence with a dangerously even tone. "Where. Did you. Hear that?"</p><p>James took an unwitting step backwards from the mic. "I… A rumor, sir."</p><p>Caius Volturi leaned back coolly on his chair on the podium. Drawing his sharp gaze away from the reporter, he lifted a hand and gestured for his secretary. "Gianna. Which network does he represent?"</p><p>"Free World News, sir." The secretariat replied instantly.</p><p>Not a hint of reaction on the executive's face, "I see. Get the managing director on the line."</p><p>"Certainly, sir."</p><p>James sputtered. "M-Mr. Volturi—"</p><p>Caius ignored him, speaking into the microphone for a final time. "This conference is over. Should you have pressing concerns about<em> the Conglomerate</em>, contact the public relations department." And then the executive walked off the podium, nonchalant, two burly bodyguards trailing after him.</p><p>
  <em>Two Years Later</em>
</p><p>A grunt. "Can I <em>at least</em> shut the door before you decide to pounce on me the moment I come home?"</p><p>"Nope!" Bella's bright peal of laughter eased the stress on Marcus' shoulders. He'd missed it very much.</p><p>"And stop running like that. You nearly tripped over the landing." He scolded her, adjusting her legs and securing them around his waist before carrying her deeper into the house. "Where's Aro and Caius?"</p><p>To his surprise, the brunette hovered her lips to the shell of his ear and whispered sultrily, "In the bedroom. Getting ready for you." A wet lick, "Welcome home."</p><p><em>Fuuuuck. </em>A silver chill went down his spine. "I should go on business trips more often."</p><p>"Mm. Not if you want to miss out on all the fun."</p><p>Marcus' gaze darkened. "And what 'fun' have I missed out on, exactly?"</p><p>"Three words, babe." Bella's fingers fumbled with his buttons impatiently, desperate for skin on skin. "Leather. Riding. Crop."</p><p>With Bella's giggles bouncing off the manor walls, Marcus' legs took off for the bedroom.</p><p>
  <em>Three Years Later</em>
</p><p>Rushing down the hallways of Didyme Hall for Liberal Arts, Bella whispered hurriedly into her phone, "Could you make sure Sammy drinks his milk this morning? Marcus and I were late for class and forgot to warm some up."</p><p>Aro chuckled on the other side of the call. "Of course, love. And don't forget, Caius will pick you up on the way home."</p><p>"Yes, yes. And change Sammy's sheets, will you? He had an accident last night."</p><p>"Yes, no problem. Get to class, Professor Swan."</p><p>"Alright, alright…" Bella cut the call.</p><p>On the opposite side of Volterra, Aro looked down at the bouncing bundle of joy perched on his lap.</p><p>"Well, Sammy, it's just you and me today." Sammy blinked up at him curiously. "Don't give me a hard time. Or I'll tell on you."</p><p>Suddenly, Sammy barked, jumped off the couch, and started running all over the apartment. Aro sighed.</p><p>A bigger house with a lawn and a picket fence. Yes, he'd start looking today.</p><p>He opened his laptop and started to type.<em> Casual vacancy for four, uptown Volterra</em>. <em>Reason for occupancy: my family is growing, and our retriever just knocked over the last Jadeite vase…</em></p><p>
  <em>Ten Years Later</em>
</p><p>"Happy birthday to youuuu." Bella hugged Alec tight, before letting him go to do the same to Jane. "And youuu."</p><p>"You're still so annoying," Jane grumbled, a pinkish tint to her cheeks. "Stop mothering me and Alec. Have your own spawns already."</p><p>Bella shrugged. "Eh, not my thing." A devious smile, "And how would any kid compare to Alec? My darling boy's so tall and charming now. He's gonna break so many hearts." <em>If only he'd stop scowling at everyone like Jane…</em></p><p>"Very funny," Alec muttered under his breath. "You know I'm ace."</p><p>Bella nodded along, "Hence, why I said so many broken hearts. You do you, sweetie."</p><p>"…" Jane stared at her. That was actually kind of, dare she think it, co—</p><p>A smug look emerged on the brunette's face. "You think I'm such a cool aunt, don't you?"</p><p>Jane scowled.</p><p>Bella laughed. "You look <em>so</em> much like Caius when you do that, stop it. Come on inside."</p><p>
  <em>Fifteen Years Later</em>
</p><p>That morning, Bella published her third and final philosophy book: <em>On Love and Oblivion.</em></p><p>Marcus had begged his spouse so many times to let him read it before the official release date, but Bella had stood her ground and told him that he was to wait, just like Caius and Aro, just like everyone else.</p><p>Stepping out of the bookstore, Marcus tore the plastic away and flipped the book cover, eager to read.</p><p>And then he stopped at the second page.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>To Aro, Caius, and Marcus—</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sometimes, for the deserving, both fate and universe collude for miracles.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I think love and oblivion are two separate things we will have together, and not much else will matter in time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I love you.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>See you at home.</em>
</p><hr/><p>Outside the local bookstore, behind a broad company desk, lounging in a secret office, Marcus, Caius, and Aro separately managed to read Bella's words at the same moment.</p><p>Time froze.</p><p>
  <em>How love is an unstoppable forest flame… a madness… a deep-burning pain bottled in the sense of unknowing… A fundamental want…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Desire is this bruised patina of needing to be touched… Recognition in the dark…</em>
</p><p>Bella Swan-Volturi peered at the Volterran nightlife from the living room windows. Her mind quiet, her heart an even, steady thudding in her chest.</p><p>She heard the tinkling sound of keys for a split second, then the turning of the doorknob of the front door as it opened. Readying her voice before she turned to face them, Bella tucked a strand of hair behind an ear and greeted them warmly with her best, kindest, most loving smile.</p><p>"Welcome home."</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>~FIN~</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Version 21 Jan 2021</strong>
</p><p>To You: Thank you for reading. I feel like writing Casual Vacancy took a part of me with it, and now that it's finished I feel... vulnerable. But stronger. Does that make sense?</p><p>Yes. I guess it does.</p><p>I hope it made you as happy as it did with me.</p><p>
  <strong>With all my love,</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Reveri x</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Join our discord server! We're welcome for all fandom writers, readers, and artists! https ://discord .gg/qKjcTRb</p></blockquote></div></div>
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